CA state tax underpayment penalty

[psdeckers]

I was reviewing my CA state tax and found an underpayment penalty. On the CA Form 5805, under the heading "If you meet any of the following conditions, you do not owe a penalty..."

One of the conditions is "At least 90% of the tax shown on your 2025 return or 100% of the tax shown on your 2024 return..." The tax code says you must pay the lesser of the two conditions above to avoid an underpayment penalty. 

I paid more than 90 percent of tax due on the current return but I did not pay the amount shown on last years return.  In my case, I paid "at least" 90% of current year, but Turbo tax added a penalty. On the form 5805, Turbo tax will not allow me to enter the quarterly estimated taxes that I paid in planning for taxes on interest and investment income anticipated for the tax year. Line 8 of part 2 on this form is there for estimated taxes. This is under the "short method" but turbo tax does not let me enter data in this section. The 5805 worksheet II, shows required installments that do not appear to correlate with any imported document or anything I entered. I do not know where Turbo tax came up with these required installments. If turbo tax uses this worksheet to calculate the penalty, this might be the cause but I do not see any way to correct this worksheet.

Appreciate any help?

[baldietax]

did you enter State estimated taxes paid under your Federal return in Deductions & Credits / Estimates and Other Taxes Paid

[Tr221]

Yes, I have the same issue with this, turbo tax calculated my underpayment penalty incorrectly.

Since our taxable income is more than 100,000 so I paid 2025 estimated tax generously 120% of our 2024 tax amount and timely per quarter. 
My plan is doing taxes by HAND, using data from TurboTax, ignore the penalty part for now.

I addressed this to TurboTax but they denied it so far.

For now, I complete taxes by hand, ignore the penalty part… let CA determine this.

[MonikaK1]

Once an Underpayment Penalty appears in the California return, the Underpayment Penalty interview appears in the California section. 

If you have an Underpayment Penalty on your California return, you can go back through the California section in TurboTax and answer the questions in the California Underpayment Penalty interview to see if the penalty can be reduced or eliminated. It appears under Additional Tax Payments in the Other Tax Situations category in the California return.

You can also review the Underpayment Statement in the California Forms list. Go to Forms mode if using Desktop; if using Online, you can still preview your return before filing to find out how your taxes were calculated. See here for details. It provides a chronological listing by quarter of events or transactions that impact the penalty calculation, including rate changes during the year. If the dollar amounts and dates on the form are correct, the calculations on the statement appear correct.

@Tr221