2020- 540 booklet - CALIFORNIA 540 Forms & Instructions ...

1 CALIFORNIA 540 Forms & Instructions 2020 Personal Income Tax BookletMembers of the Franchise Tax BoardBetty T. Yee, ChairAntonio Vazquez, MemberKeely Bosler, MemberCOVER GRAPHICS OMITTED FOR DOWNLOADING SPEEDPage 2 Personal Income Tax booklet 2020 ..Table of ContentsImportant Dates 2Do I Have to File? 3 What s New and Other Important information for 2020 4 Which Form Should I Use? 8 Instructions for Form 540 9 Nonrefundable Renter s Credit Qualification Record 21 Voluntary Contribution Fund Descriptions 22 Credit Chart 23 Frequently Asked Questions 24 Additional information 25 Instructions for Filing a 2020 Amended return 27 Form 540, CALIFORNIA Resident Income Tax return 29 Schedule CA (540), CALIFORNIA Adjustments Residents 35 Instructions for Schedule CA (540) 39 Schedule D (540), CALIFORNIA Capital Gain or Loss Adjustment 49 Instructions for Schedule D (540)

2 51 FTB 3519, Payment for Automatic Extension for Individuals 53 Form 540-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals 56 Instructions for Form 540-ES 59 FTB 3506, Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit 63 Instructions for Form FTB 3506 65 FTB 3514, CALIFORNIA Earned Income Tax Credit 69 Instructions for Form FTB 3514 732020 CALIFORNIA Tax Table 872020 CALIFORNIA Tax Rate Schedules 93 How To Get CALIFORNIA Tax information 94 Franchise Tax Board Privacy Notice on Collection 94 Automated Phone Service 95 Important DatesWhen the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline to file and pay without penalty is extended to the next business 15, 2021*Last day to file and pay the 2020 amount you owe to avoid penalties and interest.

3 *See form FTB 3519 for more information . *If you are living or traveling outside the United States on April 15, 2021, the dates for filing your tax return and paying your tax are different. See form FTB 3519 for more 15, 2021 Last day to file or e-file your 2020 tax return to avoid a late filing penalty and interest computed from the original due date of April 15, 15, 2021 June 15, 2021 September 15, 2021 January 18, 2022 The dates for 2021 estimated tax payments. Generally, you do not have to make estimated tax payments if the total of your CALIFORNIA withholdings is 90% of your required annual payment. Also, you do not have to make estimated tax payments if you will pay enough through withholding to keep the amount you owe with your tax return under $500 ($250 if married/registered domestic partner (RDP) filing separately).

4 However, if you do not pay enough tax either through withholding or by making estimated tax payments, you may have an underpayment penalty. See Form 540-ES Instructions for more information .$$$ for YouEarned Income Tax Credit Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC) EIC reduces your federal tax obligation, or allows a refund if no federal tax is due. You may qualify if you earned less than $50,954 ($56,844 if married filing jointly) and have qualifying children or you have no qualifying children and you earned less than $15,820 ($21,710 if married filing jointly). Go to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website at and choose topic 601, get the federal income tax booklet , or go to and search for eitc assistant.

5 CALIFORNIA Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) EITC reduces your CALIFORNIA tax obligation, or allows a refund if no CALIFORNIA tax is due. You may qualify if you have wage income earned in CALIFORNIA and/or net earnings from self-employment of less than $30,001. You do not need a child to qualify. For more information , go to and search for eitc or get form FTB 3514, CALIFORNIA Earned Income Tax Child Tax Credit Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) YCTC reduces your CALIFORNIA tax obligation, or allows a refund if no CALIFORNIA tax is due. You may qualify for the credit if you qualified for the CA EITC and you have at least one qualifying child who is younger than six years old as of the last day of the taxable year.

6 For more information , see the Instructions for Form 540, line 76, and get form FTB of Excess State Disability Insurance (SDI) If you worked for at least two employers during 2020 who together paid you more than $122,909 in wages, you may qualify for a refund of excess SDI. See the Instructions on page Errors and How to Prevent ThemHelp us process your tax return quickly and accurately. When we find an error, it requires us to stop to verify the information on the tax return , which slows processing. The most common errors consist of: Claiming the wrong amount of estimated tax payments. Claiming the wrong amount of standard deduction or itemized deductions.

7 Claiming a dependent already claimed on another return . The amount of refund or payments made on an original return does not match our records when amending your tax return . Claiming the wrong amount of withholding by incorrectly totaling or transferring the amounts from your federal Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Claiming the wrong amount of real estate withholding. Claiming the wrong amount of SDI. Claiming the wrong amount of exemption avoid errors and help process your tax return faster, use these helpful hints when preparing your tax estimated tax payments: Verify the amount of estimated tax payments claimed on your tax return matches what you sent to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for that year.

8 Go to and login or register for MyFTB to view your total estimated tax payments before you file your tax return . Verify the overpayment amount from your 2019 tax return you requested to be applied to your 2020 estimated tax. Claiming state disability insurance: Verify the amount of SDI used to figure the amount of excess SDI claimed on Form 540, line 74, matches amounts from your W-2 standard deduction or itemized deductions: See Form 540, line 18 Instructions and worksheets for the amount of standard deduction or itemized deductions you can withholding amounts: Go to and login or register for MyFTB to verify withheld amount or see Instructions for line 71 of Form 540.

9 Confirm only CALIFORNIA income tax withheld is claimed. Verify real estate or other withholding amount from Form 592-B, Resident and Nonresident Withholding Statement, and Form 593, Real Estate Withholding Statement. See Instructions for line 73 of Form refund or payments made on an original return when amending your tax return : Go to and login or register for MyFTB to check tax return records for refund or payments made. Verify the amount from your original return Form 540, line 115 and include any adjustment by FTB. Use e-file: By using e-file, you can eliminate many common errors. Go to and search for efile Income Tax booklet 2020 Page 3Do I Have to File?

10 Steps to Determine Filing RequirementStep 1: Is your gross income (all income received from all sources in the form of money, goods, property, and services that are not exempt from tax) more than the amount shown in the CALIFORNIA Gross Income chart below for your filing status, age, and number of dependents? If yes, you have a filing requirement. If no, go to Step 2: Is your adjusted gross income (federal adjusted gross income from all sources reduced or increased by all CALIFORNIA income adjustments) more than the amount shown in the CALIFORNIA Adjusted Gross Income chart below for your filing status, age, and number of dependents? If yes, you have a filing requirement.