{"tool":{"slug":"california-tax","name":"California tax calculator","version":"2026-08-22","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/california-tax","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/california-tax.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/california-tax","parameters":[{"key":"income","label":"Income","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":100000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Wage income for the year, box 1 of your W-2, which is your pay after anything you put into a traditional 401(k), HSA, or pre-tax health premiums. On a joint return, both salaries added together."},{"key":"dependents","label":"Dependents","unit":"count","min":0,"max":2,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"integer":true,"help":"Each dependent is worth a $475 California exemption credit on Form 540 line 10, and a federal child tax credit in the column beside it. Capped at 2 here: at three the federal refundable formula changes to one this engine does not compute."},{"key":"additions","label":"California additions","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"help":"Schedule CA (540) Part I column C: income California taxes that the federal return did not, such as interest on out-of-state municipal bonds or an HSA deduction California does not allow."},{"key":"subtractions","label":"California subtractions","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"help":"Schedule CA (540) Part I column B: income the federal return taxed that California does not, most often US Treasury interest, a state tax refund, or California-exempt paid family leave."},{"key":"sdiRate","label":"SDI rate","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":5,"default":1.2,"sourceId":"ca-edd-sdi","help":"State Disability Insurance withheld from every dollar of wages, with no cap. This one figure is not from the tax engine: it is the EDD's published rate applied to your wages, shown because it leaves your paycheck alongside the tax."}],"options":[{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","options":[{"value":"single","label":"Single"},{"value":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly"},{"value":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately"},{"value":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household"},{"value":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse"}],"default":"single","sourceId":null,"help":"Your status on the last day of the year. California generally requires the same status you used federally, and it sets both the standard deduction on line 18 and the exemption credit on line 32."}]},"taxYear":2025,"inputs":{"income":100000,"dependents":0,"additions":0,"subtractions":0,"sdiRate":1.2,"status":"single"},"result":{"caTax":5056,"federalTax":13455,"combinedTax":18511,"sdi":1200,"caAgi":100000,"standardDeduction":5706,"taxableIncome":94294,"taxBeforeCredits":5209,"exemptionCredits":153,"mentalHealthTax":0,"federalAgi":100000,"federalStandardDeduction":15750,"federalTaxableIncome":84250,"caEffectiveRate":5.06,"federalEffectiveRate":13.46,"combinedEffectiveRate":18.51,"caMarginalRate":9.3,"afterTax":80289,"form540":[{"line":"13","label":"Federal adjusted gross income","amount":100000},{"line":"14","label":"California subtractions","amount":0},{"line":"16","label":"California additions","amount":0},{"line":"17","label":"California adjusted gross income","amount":100000,"emphasis":true},{"line":"18","label":"California standard deduction","amount":5706},{"line":"19","label":"California taxable income","amount":94294,"emphasis":true},{"line":"31","label":"Tax on that income","amount":5209},{"line":"32","label":"Exemption credits","amount":153},{"line":"47","label":"Other credits","amount":0},{"line":"62","label":"Mental health services tax","amount":0},{"line":"64","label":"Total California tax","amount":5056,"emphasis":true}],"computability":{"status":"final","fileReady":true,"blocking":[]}},"drivers":[{"key":"income","label":"Income","step":10000,"taxDelta":929,"sentence":"A $10,000 raise adds $929 of California tax on its own, and $3,129 once the federal side is counted too."},{"key":"dependents","label":"Dependents","step":1,"taxDelta":-475,"sentence":"One more dependent cuts the California bill by $475, the exemption credit on Form 540 line 10."},{"key":"subtractions","label":"California subtractions","step":1000,"taxDelta":-93,"sentence":"$1,000 of income California does not tax, Treasury interest for instance, takes $93 off the state bill and nothing off the federal one."}],"sensitivity":{"byIncome":[{"income":50000,"caTax":1040,"federalTax":3875,"combinedTax":4915,"caEffectiveRate":2.08},{"income":75000,"caTax":2775,"federalTax":7955,"combinedTax":10730,"caEffectiveRate":3.7},{"income":100000,"caTax":5056,"federalTax":13455,"combinedTax":18511,"caEffectiveRate":5.06},{"income":125000,"caTax":7380,"federalTax":19067,"combinedTax":26447,"caEffectiveRate":5.9},{"income":150000,"caTax":9705,"federalTax":25067,"combinedTax":34772,"caEffectiveRate":6.47},{"income":200000,"caTax":14355,"federalTax":37067,"combinedTax":51422,"caEffectiveRate":7.18}],"byStatus":[{"status":"single","label":"Single","caTax":5056},{"status":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly","caTax":2080},{"status":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately","caTax":5056},{"status":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household","caTax":2632},{"status":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse","caTax":2080}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"income","label":"Income","value":100000,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"dependents","label":"Dependents","value":0,"unit":"count","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"additions","label":"California additions","value":0,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"subtractions","label":"California subtractions","value":0,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"sdiRate","label":"SDI rate","value":1.2,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":{"id":"ca-edd-sdi","name":"California EDD, SDI withholding rate","url":"https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/rates_and_withholding/","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"State Disability Insurance is withheld at 1.2% of wages in 2025, with no wage ceiling since Senate Bill 951. It is payroll withholding, not income tax, and the tax engine does not model it."}},{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","value":"single","unit":"choice","provided":false,"source":null}],"sources":[{"id":"ca-ftb-540","name":"California FTB, Form 540 (2025)","url":"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2025/2025-540.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The resident return itself: the $5,706 and $11,412 standard deductions on line 18, the $153 personal and $475 dependent exemption credits on lines 7 through 11, and the behavioral health services tax on line 62."},{"id":"ca-rtc-17041","name":"California Revenue and Taxation Code § 17041","url":"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=17041","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The statute that sets the resident rate schedule the Form 540 tax on line 31 is computed from."},{"id":"ca-rtc-17043","name":"California Revenue and Taxation Code § 17043","url":"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=17043","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The extra 1% on the part of taxable income above $1,000,000, voted in as Proposition 63 and reported on Form 540 line 62."},{"id":"ca-edd-sdi","name":"California EDD, SDI withholding rate","url":"https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/rates_and_withholding/","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"State Disability Insurance is withheld at 1.2% of wages in 2025, with no wage ceiling since Senate Bill 951. It is payroll withholding, not income tax, and the tax engine does not model it."},{"id":"rev-proc-2024-40","name":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025 inflation-adjusted items)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-24-40.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The federal rate tables and standard deduction for 2025, which set the federal AGI that Form 540 line 13 starts from."},{"id":"pl-119-21-obbba","name":"One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21)","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21","asOf":"2025-07-04","note":"The statute behind the current federal standard deduction used in the federal column for 2025."}],"warnings":[{"code":"sdi-not-from-engine","message":"State Disability Insurance takes another $1,200 at 1.2% of wages, on top of the income tax above. It is payroll withholding rather than income tax, so it is not in the Form 540 total, and it is the one figure on this page the tax engine does not compute: it is the EDD published rate applied to your wages."},{"code":"credits-not-modelled","message":"Form 540 line 47 is zero here. The nonrefundable renter's credit, the child and dependent care credit, the college access credit, and the rest are all worth checking on your own return, and every one of them would lower the number above."}],"disclaimer":"This computes California resident income tax on wage income for tax year 2025 using the California standard deduction, and shows the federal income tax on the same facts beside it. It leaves out itemized deductions, business and investment income, part-year and nonresident returns on Form 540NR, every California credit on line 47, and the Social Security and Medicare withheld from your check. The SDI figure comes from the EDD rate rather than the tax engine. It is not your return and not tax advice. Check anything that matters against your own filing."}