Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 280 - Department of Revenue › Chapter 20 - Division of Taxation › Subchapter 55 - Personal Income Tax › Part 5 - Filing Status of Spouses - Nonresident Military Personnel and Partial-Year Residents (280-RICR-20-55-5) › Section 280-RICR-20-55-5.7 - Filing Status of a Married Nonresident Military Person and His/her Spouse When a Joint Federal Income Tax Has Been Filed

Current through June 14, 2024
A.
				 Both spouses may elect to file a resident Rhode Island personal income tax
				 return as married filing jointly on their joint income.
B. If one or both of the spouses must file
				 and pay personal income taxes in another state, then a special computation has
				 to be made for any allowable out-of-state tax credit on the Rhode Island
				 return.
C. If either spouse claims
				 Rhode Island as his/her legal residence, then separate Rhode Island personal
				 income tax returns have to be filed.
1. The
				 spouse claiming Rhode Island residency is required to file a resident Rhode
				 Island personal income tax return (RI-1040A or RI-1040).
2. The spouse claiming nonresident status
				 files a Rhode Island nonresident personal income tax return (RI-1040NR) if that
				 person had any Rhode Island source income other than military wages.
a. By using the Rhode Island nonresident
				 allocation schedule of the RI-1040NR, the portion of the Federal income tax
				 liability to be used for Rhode Island purposes will be computed.
3. When separate Rhode Island
				 returns are filed, the Federal married filing separate status has to be used to
				 compute the Federal income tax liability for Rhode Island purposes.
a. The Federal married filing separately
				 requirements have to be followed as they pertain to income reporting, itemized
				 deductions, personal exemptions and dependents.
4. Nonresident service members filing to
				 report income earned from a separate job in Rhode Island or the income of a
				 spouse living in Rhode Island may subtract active duty military wages as a
				 modification decreasing Federal adjusted gross income in determining the tax
				 due to Rhode Island.
a. Residents of Rhode
				 Island serving in the United States military on active duty, regardless of
				 where they are stationed, are not affected by the modification in §
												5.7(C)(4)     of
				 this Part above.
b. Example: A
				 nonresident member of the United States armed forces who is stationed in Rhode
				 Island earns $50,000 in active duty military wages. She also works part-time
				 earning $20,000 in a field that is unrelated to her military duties. The
				 nonresident would not be taxed on the $50,000 in military wages but would
				 report the $20,000 on the allocation. She would take a decreasing modification
				 of her military pay and would owe tax on the remainder of the unrelated
				 part-time earnings after being reduced by the standard deduction and any
				 personal exemption(s).
5. Income for services performed by the
				 service member's spouse in Rhode Island would be exempt from Rhode Island
				 income tax only if the service member's spouse moves to Rhode Island solely to
				 be with the service member complying with military orders sending him/her to
				 Rhode Island. The service member and the service member's spouse must also
				 share the same non-Rhode Island domicile.
a.
				 Other income derived from Rhode Island sources such as business income,
				 ownership or disposition of any interest in real or tangible personal property
				 and gambling winnings are still subject to Rhode Island income tax.