Are stock proceeds treated differently between Federal and State? My state tax (CA) was adjusted after entering Cost Basis but Fed was not.

[bebaxter]

Date acquired is Inherited, with Sale category of unknown and type of gain being long term.

[JulieS · Accepted solution]

Yes, capital gains are taxed differently on the federal return and the California state return. 

The federal return uses a long capital gain rate that varies from 0% to 15%. Click here for details of exceptions to these rates. 

California applies their regular tax rate to capital gains.

Since adding basis would lower your capital gain, the California tax would definitely change, unless you were already at $0 tax. 

On the federal return, there are a number of reasons why your federal tax may not change:

• Your long term capital gains rate is 0%.
• You have capital losses, so your net loss was at ($3000) prior to adding the basis. 
• You had already offset your entire tax liability with deductions and credits (line 24 of 1040 is $0).
• You are subject to AMT and the AMT amount made up for the lower total tax.