Thank you. Trying to do the right thing, but I'm now wondering whether to file a federal return for $10 refund either! Spent way too much time on this.
CA FTB form 540 instructions say under who must file :
Dependent of another person of any age must file if gross income exceeds standard deduction and Turbotax has the deduction at 5540 for me .
Not sure if gross income includes the fellowship, but I guess it does. Their definition is all income received from all sources in the form of money, goods, property, and services that are not exempt from tax.
Also found this, so they seem to be lumping my 7500 into investment income.
Requirements for Children with Investment Income
California law conforms to federal law which allows parents’ election to report a child’s interest and dividend income from a child under age 19 or a full-time student under age 24 on the parent’s tax return. For each child under age 19 or full-time student under age 24 who received more than $2,600 of investment income in 2024, complete Form 540 and form FTB 3800, Tax Computation for Certain Children with Unearned Income, to figure the tax on a separate Form 540 for your child.
Something in the federal return is making the CA form trigger this , I think Form 8615, which also entered 7500 + 310 as unearned income. Eventually, it came to 0 on this form, but it went over to CA Form 3800.
Error in my calculation for federal deduction, I included the 310 in interest income My deduction calculation was $3213 + 2000 + 7500 +310 +450.
Maybe, I just start afresh. I cannot find what interview question triggered this.
