Period of California Residency Before 2022

[samurai226]

Hi guys, I need some help with this. I moved abroad in 2017 and I know the exact date for that one since it's on the passport but I do not really know the start date of my CA residency. My family moved to New Jersey for a year and then moved back in like 2002 sometime in the summer. Since this was like 15 years ago, is it ok to give a best guess of when we actually arrived in CA?

We drove the whole way there so there would be no flight history or anything. 

Thank you for the help. 

[xmasbaby0]

Why do you think you need that information?   Where do you think the tax form is asking for that?  

[samurai226]

The reason is that turbo tax is asking for it and it's not like I can just skip it. At least I don't think so. 

I put my residency as a foreign country at the beginning and when I started to do my state tax, it showed up. 

[TomD8]

If you've been living abroad since 2017, why are you doing a California state return?

[samurai226]

Well from my understanding, I still have to file since I had a CA license and TurboTax did not allow me to claim to be abroad when filing for state taxes. It was weird last year but this year I can actually claim I was not a resident.

[TomD8]

Your residency isn't determined by your drivers license.  This CA tax publication gives the details on how California determines residency for tax purposes:

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2022/2022-1031-publication.pdf

In the Personal Info section of TT, select "Foreign or US Possession" in the State of Residence drop-down list if you're a resident of a foreign country.

CA taxes non-residents only on CA-source income, such as rental income from a property located in CA, or W-2 income from work actually (physically) performed in CA.  If you're a non-resident of CA and you have no CA-source income, then there is no need for you to file a CA tax return.