BillM223
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"Should I check the "Paid Family Leave" box because of the FFCRA payment?"

 

No, because the IRS calls this "qualified family leave" under the FFCRA (See this IRS webpage), not "paid family leave".

 

In California, Paid Family Leave is a state program funded solely through employee contributions. On the other hand, FFCRA is a federal program that is funded by federal tax credits (Ibid).

 

There is a lot of loose talk in California about "paid family leave", but the only PFL that is non-taxable in CA is that which is paid by the CA EDD (this is reported on a 1099-G) or by an insurance company who is paying on a PFL policy bought by your employer (this is reported on a W-2, but NOT the same W-2 that your wages are reported on).

 

Even if it turns out that the $2k is considered PFL in CA (which I have not yet seen any evidence for), you are correct to be concerned about the entire Wages amount on your W-2 being nontaxable in CA. 

 

The screen in the CA interview in TurboTax, asked you to enter the amount on your W-2 that was real PFL. Note that the screen showed a box with the Wages amount from box 1 of the W-2 prefilled in. Nearly every taxpayer should change this number. Most taxpayers who are receiving payments from their employer (short-term disability or other benefits) should enter zero in this box, so that all the income is taxable in CA. 

 

You should enter a non-zero number in that box only if the insurance company with PFL policy provided some of the money through your employer (which is not how it's supposed to be done).

 

If you find an authoritative source that the FFCRA funds are considered the same as PFL for state income tax purposes, I would love to see it, but otherwise, I have to conclude that FFCRA is taxable both on the federal and state level.

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