Washington deduction for California tax on RSUs

[crimson91]

As a California part-year resident / non-resident (who is now Washington resident), it is known that one has to pay California taxes on RSUs if they are vested when he/she worked at California.

Can he/she claim this California tax as an additional deduction other than the standard deduction (e.g., $12,200 for individuals)?

[DavidS127 · Accepted solution]

If your total itemized deductions are more than $12,200, you can choose to "itemize deductions" instead of using the standard deduction.

These California state taxes paid are one of the items that make up itemized deductions.  The other itemized deductions are usually medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, personal and real property taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable contributions.  If you believe the total of these items is (or may be) more than $12,200, you should enter them in TurboTax and the software will notify you of the best option (itemized or standard deduction).

Note, however, that they are itemized deductions in the year they are actually paid.  So, if the California tax is on your 2019 return, but not paid until 2020, you can't count them as itemized deductions until your 2020 return.