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I sold a house in California, I'm active duty, non-resident. Do I have to file in CA?

Made less than $100k. Neither wife nor I are CA residents, both paid taxes to other states.
1 Reply
ToddL
New Member

I sold a house in California, I'm active duty, non-resident. Do I have to file in CA?

Were you eligible to exclude the gain from your federal tax return? If so, you don't need to file a CA return.

From CA FTB Pub.1001:

"For sale or exchanges after May 6, 1997, federal law allows
an exclusion of gain on the sale of a personal residence in
the amount of $250,000 ($500,000 if married filing jointly).
The taxpayer must have owned and occupied the residence
as a principal residence for at least 2 of the 5 years before the
sale. California conforms to this provision.

If you don't qualify for the federal exclusion, you would file a CA Non-resident tax return (CA 540NR) - only your military income and non-CA source income is exempt from CA tax under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. 

From CA FTB Publication 1032 Tax Information for Military Personnel - California :

Income Subject to California Tax

In general, California taxes all of the income you received while you were a resident of California and all of the income you received from California sources while you were a nonresident.

California Source Income – California source income includes income from:

  • Real or tangible personal property located in California;

  • A trade or business located in California; and

  • Nonmilitary services performed in California such as salaries or wages from a second job held by a nonresident military member. 

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