Yes, if the work you did in CA generated income, it is taxable to CA. The income you earned while working in CA is considered California sourced income and it must be reported on a CA nonresident return. The link has instructions. You will need to determine the amount of your overall self-employment income that was earned during those 20 days. The link below explains different ways to allocate your income. You can divide your business income by the number of days you worked during 2021 and then multiply that by 20 to get the amount allocable to CA.
As a nonresident, you still have to use an apportionment schedule to determine how much tax you owe in each state, but the interesting twist here is that you also pay tax on all of your income for the entire year to your resident state. Why do the apportionment schedule, then? Because you pay taxes on what you earned in the temporary state in addition to what you pay to your resident state.
Does this sound like double taxation? It is, except that most states usually allow a credit on your resident return for the taxes you paid to the other (nonresident) state. This usually means that you won't pay any more tax than you would if you didn't have to complete the temporary state's return. But if your nonresident state has higher taxes than your resident state, you might end up paying more in total taxes because your resident state won't allow you a full credit. You are only going to pay state income tax to CA for those 20 days of income. There will be no credit on your resident return since WA does not have a state income tax.
As a nonresident, you pay tax on your taxable income from California sources. Sourced income includes, but is not limited to:
- Services performed in California
- Rent from real property located in California
- The sale or transfer of real California property
- Income from a California business, trade or profession
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