Me and my spouse currently reside in MA (his current duty station) we have lived here for a year and are both from MI, but we just recently got married. Will I be able to get a refund on the taxes I’ve paid to MA before being married or can I only claim exemption for any tax in MA after we got married
Mil spouse income tax help
byu/Intrepid-Solution970 inMilitaryFinance
Posted by Intrepid-Solution970
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For current tax year (2024), you should be able to get a refund on all MA taxes withheld. If you haven’t already, tell your employer to stop withholding MA state taxes from your pay, and plan to file a non-resident MA state tax return early next year for a refund of all MA state income tax withheld so far in 2024.
The relevant federal law is SCRA, as amended by VBTA in 2018: *“For any taxable year of the marriage, the spouse of a servicemember may elect to use the same residence for purposes of taxation as the servicemember regardless of the date on which the marriage of the spouse and the servicemember occurred.”* SCRA was further amended by VAEIA last year. MA’s online tax docs do specifically reference VBTA, but don’t seem to address VAEIA yet.
[MA Tax Information for Military Personnel and Their Spouses | Mass.gov](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ma-tax-information-for-military-personnel-and-their-spouses#residency-status-&-filing-requirements-(including-mass.-&-non-mass.-domicile)-)
[TIR 19-15: Taxation of the Income of Military Servicemembers and their Spouses | Mass.gov](https://www.mass.gov/technical-information-release/tir-19-15-taxation-of-the-income-of-military-servicemembers-and-their-spouses)
If you married in 2024, you’re not eligible to amend your 2023 returns for a refund – 2023 was not a “taxable year of the marriage”.