23VAC10-110-190. Nonresident spouse

A. Generally. Where one spouse is a resident of Virginia and the other is a nonresident, they must either: (1) compute their Virginia taxable income jointly on a joint return; or (2) compute their Virginia taxable incomes separately on separate returns. B. Separate filing. In the case of a married couple, one of whom is a nonresident of Virginia filing separately, each spouse must account separately for items of income deductions, and exemptions. Where such items cannot be accounted for separately, deductions and personal exemptions must be proportionally allocated between each spouse based upon the income attributable to each. The following example illustrates this concept. Example: H and W are a married couple. H is a resident of Virginia and W is a resident of State X. H and W elect to file separate returns and may claim a total of 6 exemptions. Income attributable to H is $40,000 and income to W is $20,000. Nonbusiness deductions total $15,000. In computing his Virginia taxable income, H is entitled to claim to $10,000 of the deductions and 4 personal exemptions (his own and 3 others) computed by determining the ratio of his income to total income (40,000/60,000).