topic California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal is not checked in State tax filing

California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal is not checked

si29xnm — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:44:13 GMT

We are registered domestic partners in California, and we are filing our CA taxes separately. On CA FTB's website, it says:

Check the box in the Filing Status section of your tax return that asks “If your California filing status is different from your federal status, check the box here.”

But when I prepare my California taxes using TurboTax desktop, CA Form 540 does not have that checkbox checked. Why is TurboTax not checking that box automatically? For my CA tax return, I went through the Personal Info tab again and chose that I'm in an RDP and "This is a married return we will use to prepare our state return" - "We want to file married filing separately for this state."

Re: California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal i...

KrisD15 — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 02:26:35 GMT

True that the Federal filing status (single or Head of Household) is not the same as Married Filing Separately, however California is a Community Property State, so the Federal returns should match your state returns.

Re: California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal i...

si29xnm — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 07:40:30 GMT

I don't quite understand your answer. Are you saying I should NOT check the box on Form 540 where it says "If your California filing status is different from your federal status, check the box here"?

Re: California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal i...

MarilynG1 — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 20:05:10 GMT

The two filing status choices for California RDP are 'RDP/filing separately' or 'RDP/filing jointly'.

If you filed jointly for Federal and will do so for California, the box would not be checked.

Check the box if your CA Filing Status does NOT match your Federal filing status (i.e., you filed jointly for federal, but are filing separately for CA, or vice versa).

Click this link for more info on California Filing Status.

Re: California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal i...

si29xnm — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 15:45:50 GMT

We filed our Federal taxes separately, each as a "Single" (NOT "Married Filing Separately," because we aren't married).

For California, we are also filing separately, each as a "Married/RDP Filing Separately" (NOT "Single" because we are RDP's). So I think we need to check the box, no?

Re: California registered domestic partners - checkbox for different filing status than federal i...

Cynthiad66 — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 18:57:28 GMT

Yes, if your filing status is different than Federal you will need to check the box that says your filing status is different.

@si29xnm