Free tax filing software / website for STATE tax filing only

[Rob Base 2.0]

Hi all

Taxes for State are a bit tricky since my wife and I moved states........and to make matters worse we didn't move at the same time....and also I retired from the military which makes things a bit interesting too

So I did my federal through H&R Block but it really can't handle my state taxes (it wants to auto-feed certain info from federal taxes and that won't work)

Basically we need to file these state taxes:

Me: state tax for Maryland from 6 Sep - 31 Dec 2016 (I was still in military 1 Jan-5 Sep and because of my claimed residence I did not have state tax for that period)

wife: state tax for South Carolina from 1 Jan - 11 Nov 2016 (she didn't work after that date for 2016 and moved to MD)

Any suggestions?

[vonna]

We had two tax years that this issue came up -- the year I retired, and then the year DH retired. 

I first filed our federal MFJ, then I did  "dummy" MFS federal returns that I could use to populate our various MFS state returns. The year I retired, I did it without software, but it was a big time pain. The year my husband retired, I lucked out -- I was a volunteer tax preparer, and though the software I used for those returns could not handle the situation, I had met a CPA through the volunteer work that let me use his professional tax software to complete those returns.

(Thinking back to another thread, we met at his office after hours so I could use the software,  so that may have given the appearance that something salacious was going on)

I have heard that turbo tax allows this type of return, not sure -- but seems like the HR block software would as well -- maybe you would have to upgrade the software -- but may be worth it.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

You should be able to do dual state taxes through the software, designating which wages/dates are for which states. You could try the VITA volunteers in your local area, and see if they can just generate the state filings (perhaps based on your federal numbers?). I think I used VITA the last time I moved between states, before I learned how to do them myself. 

[bookkeeper]

Try visiting the websites for the state department of revenue in both Maryland and South Carolina.  Many states offer a portal to file state taxes for free.  I have also seen help line phone numbers and other resources to help you get state taxes filed.


If you owe these states tax money, you can bet they want to help you file.

[alabamagal]

When we had odd state tax situations - moving back and forth, temporary income- we just used manual forms, it was easier to figure out that way. The software always bothers me because they don't seem to want to show you the actual form until the end. Also they are trying to charge you for forms that take 5 minutes to fill out if you have your federal taxes done.