Dependent child required to file taxes in California?

[Johnny41]

My 18 year old dependent son is a student full time and working a part time job.  He made about $9,000 last year.

I started to do his taxes in Turbo Tax desktop version and it shows he should get about $260 back from the federal and $1 back from the state of California, where we both reside.

I will file his federal return since Turbo Tax provides free e-filing.  But do I need to file his California tax return ?  The filing fee online is $25 using Turbo Tax or if I print and mail it seems like a bit of a hassle.  

I'd like to just e-file the Federal and not file the state at all, is that possible?

[MinhT1 · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can just not file your son's California return.

Your son isn't required to file a California tax return as his income is below $21,561. See this CA Revenue document.

[Bsch4477]

You can file the federal return and not the state. Or mail the state. 

[cmunchhof1]

This is incorrect. A person claimed as dependent in CA has a much lower filing threshold than a normal Single filer. A dependent is required to file a CA tax return if their income is higher than the CA standard deduction as noted on page 3 of FTB Pub 1031.  The standard deduction has been around $5,000 for a few years in CA, so any dependent who earned $9,000 would be required to file.