For 2017 I lived in IL and worked for a company in CA. For part of the year the company deducted CA State tax. Do I need to file CA tax as a couple or individual?

[MarilynG · Accepted solution]

If you filed a Joint Federal return, you could also file a Joint Non-Resident CA return.  You would report only your CA income and CA tax paid.

However, if you want to file a Separate CA return, you need to prepare a Separate Federal return first, as the data flows from the Federal return to the state return.

Here's instructions on how to do that:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301995