Form 1045 carryback single to MFJ

Am I doing this right?

Single taxpayer (widow) carrying back an NOL to a joint return. (First time I have done this.)

(1) I am reporting Married filing joint income/deductions and tax amounts on Form 1045 (in the "before carryback" and "after carryback" columns).

(2) Then I am attaching a schedule to show her share of joint tax liability and refund limit.

Is that right? It is not clear to me from reading PUB 536, if Form 1045 should report Married filing joint amounts or only her share of the joint income.

From the Instructions:

For example, if your marital status changes because of death or divorce, and in a later year you have an NOL, you can carry back that loss only to the part of the income reported on the joint return (filed with your former spouse) that was related to your taxable income. After you deduct the NOL in the carryback year, the joint rates apply to the resulting taxable income.

Under "What to Attach"

• Any detailed allocation schedules for a filing status change or for different spouses between the gain and loss years; see Pub. 536.

I think your (1) and (2) are correct.

I have a single client with a 2018 & 2019 NOL that we want to carryback to a married joint 2013 & 2014 tax return. She divorced in 2015.

PPC 1040 Deskbook Key Issue 13C provides an example and worksheet for doing these calculations. I am trying to get my head around this. But one thing that is confusing me is that some of the NOL benefits the ex-husband. In order to get the full value of the refund attributable to the NOL, he needs to file a 1045 also. Is that correct? It seems wrong.

If that is the case, why don't we just file amended 2013 & 2014 JOINT tax returns and skip all the nonsense?