Do I have to file a california tax return if I made less than $1000 in california?

[jessedreece]

-I was a resident of another state when I made around $900 in california (only worked there to help out a friend)

-Made around $15,500 in my home state of Missouri.
-Full time student

[hbl3973 · Accepted solution]

The proper answer is "maybe" because you earned money from CA sources.  Take a look at the page 3 of CA 540 booklet

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2015/15_540bk.pdf

and see if you income falls below the listed filing thresholds.

If you do have to file, you might want to just send in a small payment with their extension form
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2015/15_3519.pdf
with a check for $20 and file later to get some or all of that $20 back.

Since any refund will be small and your tax situation is otherwise simple, consider bypassing TurboTax for CA and fill in their forms by hand.  You don't want to spend $30 to get a $20 refund!

Also, since MO is taxing that $900, you would be due a credit against MO taxes for any paid to CA.  I assume you have filed MO by now, so you would need to amend MO later to get that credit.  Again, consider handling the MO amendment on your own.