For the second year in a row, I received a letter from the California FTB stating that they changed my return and now owe a balance much larger than I expected.
I attempted to claim my mother as a dependent using Turbo Tax (desktop, 2022 and 2023). I specified her income for 2023 ($31,000, about half from social security and half from a veteran's spouse pension) and TurboTax did its thing and told me what I owe the state. I filed electronically and it was accepted.
About a month later, California FTB said they disallowed my head of household status because her income exceeds what's allowed for a dependent. As a result, I now owe the state an extra $1,900.
I reviewed the California rules and it clearly states that the relative's income must be less than $4,300.
I'm not disputing what I owe California, but this seems like a pretty egregious mistake for TurboTax to make. It knew her income and thought she'd qualify to be my dependent.
I'd like to ask the community here if a) I have a bug to report to Intuit (and how?), or b) if perhaps California is wrong and/or I need to refile a different way to maximize my deduction.
