California Form 540 — Resident Income Tax Return 2025-2026

Get the blank Form 540 (PDF)  ·  Checked line by line against the official California form, last verified September 9, 2026  ·  How we verify

What is Form 540?

Form 540, California Resident Income Tax Return, is the standard state return for someone who lived in California for the entire tax year. It is filed with the Franchise Tax Board — California’s income tax agency, separate from the IRS and from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), which handles sales and use tax.

Three things about Form 540 trip up people who are used to a federal return. First, it is built on top of your federal return: line 13 is your federal AGI, copied straight across, and the California-only differences are handled on Schedule CA (540), a separate worksheet, rather than on the 540 itself. Second, California’s standard deduction is small — $5,706 for a single filer in 2025, less than a third of the federal figure — so many people who take the standard deduction federally end up itemizing for California. Third, the form is six sides long and the FTB wants all six, even the mostly-blank ones.

What Changed on the 2025 Form 540

Other changes for the 2025 return:

• Mental Health Services Tax → Behavioral Health Services Tax. Line 62 works exactly as before — 1% of taxable income over $1,000,000 — but every reference on the form and in the booklet now says “Behavioral Health.”
• New refundable film credit. Line 74 is the Program 4.0 California Motion Picture and Television Production Credit, which a qualified taxpayer can elect to have refunded.
• Military retirement exclusion. For 2025 through 2029, a qualified taxpayer can exclude up to $20,000 of federal military retirement pay or Survivor Benefit Plan annuity income. It is claimed as a subtraction on Schedule CA (540), not on the 540 itself.
• Alimony. California now conforms to the federal treatment (not deductible / not taxable) for divorce or separation agreements executed after December 31, 2025.
• Side 5 additions. Two new voluntary contribution funds (Pediatric Cancer Research; Parkinson’s Disease Research) and new Organ Donor Election consent checkboxes.

Which California Return Do You File?

California has no reciprocal agreements

Some states let a resident of a neighboring state skip a return by agreement. California has none of these with any state. Two consequences:

• If you live in California and earned wages in another state, you still report all of it on Form 540, then claim the Other State Tax Credit on Schedule S for tax paid to the other state on the same income.
• If you live in another state and earned California-source income (California wages, California rental property, a California business), you file Form 540NR, not Form 540.

Who Must File Form 540

You must file if your income is over the amount for your situation in the FTB’s 2025 chart. The gross-income test comes first; if you pass it you also apply the AGI test.

You must also file, regardless of income, if you owe certain taxes for 2025 (tax on a lump-sum distribution, tax on an IRA or MSA, AMT, recapture taxes, the child’s-unearned-income tax, and a few others), or to claim a refund of California tax that was withheld.

Before You Start

How Form 540 Is Organized

The order that avoids rework: finish your federal return first (line 13 depends on it), then Side 1, then Schedule CA (540) so its totals are ready for lines 14 and 16, then straight down Side 2 to taxable income, then tax and credits, then the use tax line, and finally the refund-or-due math on Sides 4–5 before signing Side 6.

How to Complete Form 540, Line by Line

Filing status and exemptions (lines 1–11)

Lines 1–5 — Filing status. Use the same status as your federal return, with two California-only wrinkles: registered domestic partners (RDPs) who file single federally must file jointly or separately for California, and you may file separately for California if your spouse was an active-duty servicemember or a full-year nonresident with no California income.

Line 6. Check this box if someone else can claim you (or your spouse/RDP) as a dependent. If it is checked, your standard deduction is figured on a worksheet and can be as low as $1,350.

Lines 7–10 — Exemption counts. Enter the number in the small box; the form multiplies it by the printed amount. Line 7 personal ($153 each), line 8 blind ($153 each), line 9 senior/65-or-older ($153 each), line 10 dependents ($475 each). Line 11 adds lines 7–10 and carries to line 32.

Income and California adjustments (lines 12–19)

Line 12 — California wages. The total of box 16 from your W-2s. This is an information line; it does not feed the tax math directly.

Line 13 — Federal AGI. Straight from federal Form 1040, line 11. This is the number the exemption-credit phase-out is measured against.

Lines 14 and 16 — Schedule CA adjustments. Complete Schedule CA (540) first. Its Part I, line 27, column B (subtractions) goes on line 14; column C (additions) goes on line 16.

Line 18 — Deduction. Enter the larger of your California itemized deductions (Schedule CA (540), Part II, line 30) or your California standard deduction: $5,706 (single/MFS) or $11,412 (MFJ/HoH/QSS).

Line 19 — Taxable income. Line 17 minus line 18, not below zero.

Figure your tax (lines 31–35)

Line 31 — Tax. If line 19 is $100,000 or less, use the Tax Table in the booklet. If it is over $100,000, use the Tax Rate Schedule for your filing status. The FTB also has an online tax calculator at ftb.ca.gov/tax-rates that does the arithmetic for you.

Line 32 — Exemption credits. The line 11 amount, reduced by the AGI Limitation Worksheet if federal AGI is over the threshold for your status (see the plain-English note above).

Lines 33–35. Line 33 is line 31 minus line 32 (not below zero). Line 34 is tax from Schedule G-1 or FTB 5870A, if any. Line 35 adds them.

Credits (lines 40–48)

Line 40 — Nonrefundable Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit. A percentage of the federal credit, and only if your California AGI is $100,000 or less. Married filing separately cannot claim it.

Lines 43–45 — Named credits. Enter each credit’s code and amount. To claim more than two, attach Schedule P (540).

Line 46 — Nonrefundable Renter’s Credit. A flat $60 (single/MFS) or $120 (MFJ/HoH/QSS) if you paid rent on your California principal residence for at least half of 2025 and your California AGI (line 17) is $53,994 or less (single/MFS) or $107,988 or less (the joint statuses). You do not attach anything, but keep the qualification record.

Lines 47–48. Line 47 totals lines 40–46; line 48 is line 35 minus line 47, not below zero.

Other taxes (lines 61–64)

Line 61 — Alternative Minimum Tax. Possible if your total income tops $92,749 (single/HoH), $123,667 (MFJ/QSS), or $61,830 (MFS) and you have certain preference items; figure it on Schedule P (540). A small business with under $1,000,000 of gross receipts is exempt from California AMT.

Line 62 — Behavioral Health Services Tax. If line 19 is over $1,000,000: (line 19 − $1,000,000) × 1%. This is the renamed Mental Health Services Tax.

Line 63 — Other taxes and credit recapture. Early-distribution tax (FTB 3805P), IRC 409A additional tax, credit recapture amounts.

Line 64 adds lines 48, 61, 62, and 63 — your total tax.

Payments (lines 71–78)

Line 71 — California income tax withheld. Total of W-2 box 17, W-2G box 15, and the California withholding boxes on your 1099s. Do not include tax withheld by other states, local tax, or amounts from Form 592-B or 593.

Line 72 — Estimated payments and extension payment. 2025 Form 540-ES payments, any 2024 overpayment applied to 2025, and any FTB 3519 payment.

Line 73 — Form 592-B / 593 withholding. Backup withholding and real-estate withholding go here, separately from line 71.

Line 74 — Program 4.0 film credit (refundable portion, if elected).

Lines 75–77 — Refundable credits from FTB 3514. Line 75 California EITC (earned income under $32,901 for 2025, no child required). Line 76 Young Child Tax Credit (a qualifying child under age 6). Line 77 Foster Youth Tax Credit (age 18–25, former foster youth). All three can produce a refund even if you owe no tax.

Line 78 totals lines 71–77.

Use tax, coverage, and the ISR penalty (lines 91–96)

Line 91 — Use tax. California use tax on things you bought from an out-of-state retailer that did not charge California tax (online orders, mail order). Use the Estimated Use Tax Lookup Table for small items, the Use Tax Worksheet for anything $1,000 or more.

Line 92 — Health-coverage box. Check it if you and your household had full-year coverage (Medicare Part A or C counts). If not, figure the Individual Shared Responsibility Penalty on form FTB 3853. Lines 93–96 reconcile payments against the penalty.

Overpayment, contributions, amount due (lines 95–114)

Lines 97–100. Line 97 is your overpayment; line 98 is any part you apply to 2026 estimated tax; line 99 is what’s left; line 100 is tax due if payments fell short.

Line 110 — Voluntary contributions. Optional donations from your refund, codes 400–449.

Line 111 — Amount you owe. If there is nothing on line 99, add lines 94, 96, 100, and 110.

Lines 112–113 — Interest and penalties (see “When Form 540 Is Due” below) and the underpayment-of-estimated-tax penalty (FTB 5805).

Line 114 — Total amount due. Line 111 plus lines 112 and 113. Line 115 — Refund. Line 99 minus lines 110, 112, and 113. Fill in lines 116–117 for direct deposit.

When Form 540 Is Due

The 2025 return is due April 15, 2026, and that is also the last day to pay without a late-payment penalty and interest. California grants an automatic extension to file to October 15, 2026 — no form is required for it. File FTB 3519 only if you are sending a payment with the extension; file by October 15 even if you cannot pay, so the late-filing penalty never starts.

If you pay estimated tax, California front-loads the 2026 installments unusually: 30% of the year’s required payment by April 15, 40% by June 15, nothing due September 15, and the last 30% by January 15, 2027.

The penalties, if you are late:

• Late payment — 5% of the unpaid tax, plus 0.5% for each month (or part of a month) it stays unpaid, up to 25%. Interest runs from April 15 and compounds daily. The penalty (not the interest) is waived if at least 90% of the tax was paid by April 15.
• Late filing — if you file after October 15, an additional penalty on top of late-payment, up to a combined 25% of the unpaid tax. If the return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is the lesser of $135 or 100% of the tax due.
• First-time abatement — for tax year 2022 onward you can ask the FTB once to remove a timeliness penalty, if you have filed all required returns and have paid or arranged to pay what you owe.
• Underpayment of estimated tax (line 113) — charged if your withholding and credits were under 90% of your 2025 tax or under 100% of your 2024 tax (110% if your 2024 AGI was over $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately). No penalty if the tax due on line 100 is under $500 ($250 if married filing separately).

Where to Send Form 540

If you e-file, there is nothing to mail unless you are sending a check — then use FTB 3582 as the voucher. To file on paper:

Assembling the return: send all six sides. Attach your W-2s and W-2Gs to the lower front. Attach a copy of your federal return only if you filed federal forms or schedules other than Schedule A or Schedule B. Make a check payable to “Franchise Tax Board,” write your SSN or ITIN and “2025 Form 540” on it, and enclose it without staples.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping Schedule CA (540). Social Security, California lottery winnings, and the military retirement exclusion are all removed there, not on the 540.
• Taking the $5,706 standard deduction without checking itemized. California’s standard deduction is small; many filers do better itemizing for state even when they took the federal standard deduction.
• Treating exemptions as deductions. Lines 7–10 are credits against tax on line 32, not subtractions from income.
• Forgetting the exemption-credit phase-out once federal AGI passes $252,203 / $378,310 / $504,411.
• Leaving line 91 blank. Enter a use tax amount or check one of the two boxes.
• Putting 592-B or 593 withholding on line 71. It goes on line 73.
• Mailing fewer than six sides, or sending the return to the wrong PO box for its payment status.
• Filing Form 540 when you moved during the year. A part-year resident files Form 540NR.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to file a California return if I live in another state? Only if you had California-source income — and then you file Form 540NR, not Form 540. California has no reciprocal agreements, so out-of-state wages of a nonresident with no California work are not California income.

What is the California standard deduction for 2025? $5,706 for single or married/RDP filing separately; $11,412 for married/RDP filing jointly, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse.

Does California tax Social Security benefits? No. The federally taxable amount is subtracted on Schedule CA (540) and flows to Form 540, line 14.

What are the California tax brackets for 2025? Nine brackets from 1% to 12.3%, plus the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income over $1,000,000. Taxable income of $100,000 or less uses the Tax Table instead of the rate schedule.

Do I need to file a federal extension to get the California extension? No. California’s extension to file is automatic to October 15, 2026. File FTB 3519 only if you are making an extension payment.

How long does a California refund take? The FTB generally issues e-file refunds within about three weeks and paper-return refunds in up to three months; identity verification or a math-error adjustment adds time.

Where do I mail Form 540? With a payment: PO Box 942867, Sacramento CA 94267-0001. Refund or no amount due: PO Box 942840, Sacramento CA 94240-0001.

Can I be charged the Behavioral Health Services Tax? Only if your taxable income on line 19 is over $1,000,000. It is 1% of the amount above $1,000,000.

Final Review Before You File

• Federal return is finished and line 13 matches federal Form 1040, line 11.
• Schedule CA (540) is complete and its line 27 column B / column C totals are on lines 14 and 16.
• Line 18 is the larger of the California standard deduction or California itemized deductions.
• Tax on line 31 came from the Tax Table (line 19 ≤ $100,000) or the correct Tax Rate Schedule (over $100,000).
• Exemption credits on line 32 are reduced if federal AGI is over the phase-out threshold.
• Line 91 has a use tax figure or one of the two boxes is checked.
• 592-B / 593 withholding is on line 73, not line 71.
• Direct-deposit routing and account numbers are checked with your bank.
• All six sides are included; W-2s are attached to the lower front; the return is signed.
• Mailed to the PO box that matches whether you owe a payment.

General information from the official form and its instructions, not advice for your circumstances. See the full disclaimer.