Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of
missing children
selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children
home by looking at the
photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.
This publication is for married taxpayers who are domiciled in one of the following community property states:
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Arizona,
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California,
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Idaho,
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Louisiana,
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Nevada,
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New Mexico,
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Texas,
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Washington, or
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Wisconsin.
This publication does not address the federal tax treatment of income or property subject to the “community property” election under
Alaska state laws.
Community property laws affect how you figure your income on your federal income tax return if you are married, live in a
community property state
or country, and file separate returns. Your tax usually will be less by filing a joint return if you are married. Sometimes
it can be to your
advantage to file separate returns. If you and your spouse file separate returns, you have to determine your community income
and your separate
income.
Community property laws also affect your basis in property you inherit from a married person who lived in a community property
state. See
Death of spouse, later.
California domestic partners.
If you are a registered domestic partner in California, the rules discussed in this publication for reporting community
income do not apply to you.
You must report all wages, salaries, and other compensation received for your personal services on your own return. Therefore,
you cannot report half
the combined income that you and your domestic partner earned as a married person filing separately does in California.
Comments and suggestions.
We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.
You can write to us at the following address:
Internal Revenue Service
Individual Forms and Publications Branch
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6406
Washington, DC 20224
We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number,
including the area code, in
your correspondence.
You can email us at
*taxforms@irs.gov. (The asterisk must be included in the
address.) Please put “
Publications Comment” on the subject line. Although we cannot respond individually to each email, we do appreciate your
feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.
Ordering forms and publications.
Visit
www.irs.gov/formspubs to download forms and publications, call 1-800-829-3676, or write to the address below and receive a response
within 10 business days after your request is received.
National Distribution Center
P.O. Box 8903
Bloomington, IL 61702-8903
Tax questions.
If you have a tax question, visit
www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to
either of the above addresses.
