2021 CA Part-Year Tax Residency

[fredthorne]

In late March 2021 I permanently moved from California to Washington state, and worked there until retiring in early July 2021.  My wife and I were long-term California residents preceding 2021 but entered California in different years.

Turbotax (State-CA 2021 tax year) inquires whether we had "Joint Residency Status Same Time" before and during 2021, to which I respond "no" since we entered California in different years in the distant past.  Yet when I review the state return later, Turbo Tax modifies my Residency Information response to "Were you a California nonresident during all of 2021?" to "yes" while leaving my spouse's response "no."  The residency information then appears as:

• Did you become a California resident during 2021?   Me: No; Spouse: No (consistent, ok)
• Did you become a California nonresident during 2021?  Me: Yes; Spouse: Yes (consistent, ok)
• Were you a California nonresident during all of 2021?  Me: Yes; Spouse: No (TT changes mine to 'yes')

What are the consequences of this?  Is Turbo Tax correct in modifying my response?

[BillM223]

To be honest, my test return (Online) doesn't react the same way, but I would say that, no, this isn't right.

What you want is that the top of form CA (540NR) be filled out correctly, especially line 3-5.

Note that you will not answer lines 3 or 5; you should have an entry only in line 4.

Will you be able to see form CA (540NR) before you file (if using the CD/download software then YES, if using the Online software, then you can see that form only after you pay for the product)?