California State Income Tax Calculator (FTB Form 540)

This calculator estimates your California state income tax from your income, filing status, and number of dependents using the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) 2025 tax table and rate schedules. It applies California's nine brackets from 1% to 12.3%, subtracts exemption credits (with the high-income phaseout), and adds the 1% tax on taxable income above $1,000,000. It is for informational purposes only: results are estimates, not a substitute for your return or tax software.

For the full bracket tables, deduction amounts, and filing rules behind these numbers, read California income tax rates and brackets explained.

What the calculator does with your inputs

The results panel shows California taxable income, tax after credits, your effective rate (tax divided by the income you entered), your marginal rate (the rate on your next dollar), and a bracket-by-bracket breakdown so you can see how much of your income lands at each rate.

Which tax year the calculator reflects

California re-indexes its brackets every year for inflation. The calculator uses the FTB's 2025 figures, the latest the FTB has published, which apply to returns filed in 2026: the 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules (the 12.3% bracket starts above $742,953 single, $1,485,906 joint, and $1,010,417 head of household), the 2025 tax table for taxable income of $100,000 or less, and the deduction and credit amounts printed in the 2025 Form 540 booklet.

The FTB has not published 2026 brackets as of October 2026; its 2026 estimated tax worksheet tells you to use the 2025 figures, so the calculator is also the right planning number for 2026 estimated payments. When the 2026 schedule is released, every threshold will typically rise by the California inflation factor, about 3%.

How the math works

The calculator follows the same order as Form 540:

1. Taxable income = gross income − standard deduction (gross mode), or the line 19 amount you enter (taxable mode).
2. Line 31 tax: at $100,000 of taxable income or less, the calculator reproduces the FTB tax table, which prices each $100 row at its midpoint; above $100,000 it applies the rate schedule to the exact amount. The bracket breakdown shows each slice multiplied by its rate.
3. Exemption credits: the personal credit for your filing status plus $475 per dependent, reduced by the AGI Limitation Worksheet if your income (used as a stand-in for federal AGI) is above the phaseout start, and never below zero.
4. Behavioral Health Services Tax: 1% of taxable income above $1,000,000 is added back on top.

The result is your estimated California income tax before withholding, estimated payments, and other credits such as the renter's credit or CalEITC.

Check it by hand with the 2025 schedule

This is the FTB's 2025 rate schedule in base-plus-percentage form, the format printed on the official schedules. Find your row, subtract the "over" amount, multiply by the rate, and add the base tax.

Head of household uses Schedule Z, which starts its 9.3% bracket at $98,990 and its 12.3% bracket above $1,010,417.

Worked example: head of household with one child, $60,000

A single parent earning $60,000 in wages, filing head of household, tax year 2025:

• Taxable income: $60,000 − $11,412 = $48,588
• Schedule Z row: over $22,173, base $221.73 plus 2% of the excess up to $52,530
• Bracket tax: $221.73 + ($48,588 − $22,173) × 2% = $221.73 + $528.30 = $750.03
• Credits: $153 personal + $475 dependent = $628
• California tax: $750.03 − $628 = $122.03

That is an effective rate of 0.2%. The same parent may also qualify for the refundable Young Child Tax Credit if the child is under 6 and the parent has qualifying earned income, which this calculator does not include. When you enter this household in the calculator, it shows $122: because taxable income is under $100,000, it uses the tax table row for $48,551 to $48,650, whose midpoint gives the same $750 of tax before credits.

Worked example: single filer, $250,000 salary

• Taxable income: $250,000 − $5,706 = $244,294
• Bracket tax: $3,201.97 + ($244,294 − $72,724) × 9.3% = $3,201.97 + $15,956.01 = $19,157.98
• Exemption credit: AGI is under the $252,203 phaseout start, so the full $153 applies
• California tax: $19,004.98, or 7.6% of salary

At this income every additional $1,000 of salary costs $93 of California tax, and every $1,000 put into a pre-tax 401(k) saves $93.

Reading your results

• Effective rate is the number to use when comparing states or budgeting. Most California households pay an effective rate well under their bracket rate because the first $70,000-plus of taxable income is taxed at 1% to 8%.
• Marginal rate is the number to use for decisions at the edge: how much a raise, bonus, Roth conversion, or extra 401(k) contribution changes your tax. A bonus is taxed at your marginal rate on the annual return even though California withholds bonuses at a flat 10.23%; see how bonuses are taxed.
• Bracket breakdown shows whether you are close to the next threshold. If you are within a few thousand dollars, a deductible retirement contribution may keep the next slice in the lower bracket.

What the calculator leaves out

California's return has items that a three-input calculator cannot see. Expect your actual tax to differ if any of these apply:

• Itemized deductions. California allows mortgage interest on up to $1,000,000 of acquisition debt and does not let you deduct state income tax on the state return. If your California itemized deductions beat the standard deduction, your taxable income will be lower than the calculator assumes.
• Schedule CA adjustments. California taxes HSA contributions and earnings, excludes Social Security benefits and U.S. Treasury interest, and taxes interest on other states' municipal bonds. Enter taxable income directly if you have a draft Schedule CA.
• Federal AGI versus gross income. The exemption credit phaseout (above $252,203 of federal AGI for single filers in 2025, $504,411 joint, $378,310 head of household) reduces each credit by $6 for every $2,500 of excess, or fraction of it. The calculator applies that worksheet to the gross income you enter, so pre-tax 401(k) deferrals that lower your AGI will make your real credit slightly larger. Blind and senior exemption credits ($153 each) are not included.
• Other credits. Renter's credit ($60 single, $120 joint for 2025 if California AGI is $53,994 or less single, $107,988 or less joint), child and dependent care credit, CalEITC, and the Young Child Tax Credit.
• Capital gains. California taxes gains as ordinary income, so include them in the income you enter. There is no lower rate to apply.
• Payroll deductions. State Disability Insurance (SDI) is withheld from wages separately and is not part of income tax. Use the paycheck after tax calculator to see take-home pay.

Tax table versus rate schedule

If your 2025 taxable income is $100,000 or less, the FTB requires you to use the tax table in the Form 540 booklet instead of the rate schedule. The table works in $100 rows and taxes the midpoint of each row, so it can differ from the formula by a few dollars. The calculator follows the same rule: it uses the table method up to $100,000 of taxable income and the rate schedule above that.

If your income is mostly wages and you meet the other rules, you may be able to file the shorter Form 540 2EZ, where the tax table already includes your deduction and credits. Try the California 540 2EZ calculator and read the Form 540 2EZ guide to see whether you qualify.

Planning with the result

• Withholding check. Compare the estimate with your year-to-date California withholding (W-2, box 17) scaled to a full year. If you will owe more than $500 ($250 married filing separately), you may need estimated payments.
• Estimated payment schedule. California wants 30% of the year's required payment by April 15, 40% by June 15, nothing in September, and 30% by January 15, per the Form 540-ES instructions.
• Federal side. California tax paid is deductible on your federal Schedule A within the SALT cap ($40,400 for 2026). Model the federal return with the federal tax bracket calculator.
• Moving out of state. If you are comparing California with a no-income-tax state, the California vs Nevada tax comparison and California vs Texas comparison add sales and property tax to the picture.