Question about how to better fill out my CA State W-4 form

[BerkeleyBabe2017]

Hello and good afternoon,

How can I fill out my CA State W-4 form so that a more appropriate amount of CA state taxes is being withheld from my paychecks?

Earlier today I asked a question below (please down scroll below) and an Expert said: "As your income has increased the amount of taxes being taken out of your paycheck for California has gone down.  That is why you owe.  Time to have a word with HR."

So I am wondering if filling in my CA State W-4 form differently would help? We are married and file separately and have no children.

Currently my CA State W-4 Tax Data is filled out as:

• Married.
• 0 Allowances being claimed.
• 0 additional allowances.

Please see below for more context on how I am not having enough CA taxes withheld from my paychecks, which is causing me to owe a lot of CA state taxes when it is time to file:

Hello,

My total income was $78,176 (box 1 on my W2), and I paid $1,888 in state income tax (box 17 on my W-2). After doing my taxes, it says I will owe the CA state $1,256 and that I am getting a $0 federal refund.

Do those numbers sound correct for me to have to pay that much in CA taxes? I just want to make sure that I am doing my taxes right before submitting them.

I provided some numbers below for context from my last few W-2's to compare how much CA taxes have been withheld over time:

From looking at the percentages below, a lesser percentage of state income taxes is being withheld from my paycheck every year. Even though I am making more money every year. I think that is why gradually I have been getting less of a tax refund and I actually owe money to the CA state. Back in 2022 I made less money, but a higher percentage of about 0.044% was taken out of my paychecks. In comparison to 2024 were I make a lot more money, but only about 0.024% is withheld from my paychecks towards CA taxes.

W-2 2024 - (Box 16) $78,176 x 0.024% = $1,876.22 (closest number I could compute to $1,888.63)

State income tax / Box 17 = $1,888.63

W-2 2023 - (Box 16) $72,870 x 0.038% = 2,769.96  (closest number I could compute to $2,746.22)

State income tax / Box 17 = $2,746.22

W-2 2022 - (Box 16) $63,877 x 0.044% =$2,810,58  (closest number I could compute to $2,796.17)

State income tax / Box 17 = $2,796.17

Thanks for your help.

Best regards,

[MonikaK1 · Accepted solution]

Review all of the California schedules with your return to ensure that the information was input correctly. Your state income tax as calculated on your California Form 540 is based on your Federal Adjusted Gross Income, plus California additions (items taxed by California but not Federal) less California Subtractions (items taxed by Federal but not California). Therefore, just comparing your state withholding and taxable wages on your W-2 with your total California tax won't show you how much you need to withhold for California or whether your return is correct.

The way you answer the interview questions in TurboTax can also affect how your state tax is calculated. For example, if you entered in TurboTax that your California wages qualified to be treated as Paid Family Leave, they would be subtracted from your California income subject to tax.

Review your California Schedule CA to see any items of income were added or subtracted in calculating California income. This should help resolve your question as to whether the tax is correct.

You can prepare estimates for California for 2025 within TurboTax Online:

• Go to Other Tax Situations in the California State return
• Click on Start or Revisit next to Estimated Taxes for Next Year

Contact your payroll office to make any needed changes to your California Form DE-4 for California state withholding. If you are already claiming zero withholding allowances, you can add an additional dollar amount to be deducted from each paycheck on line 2 of the form. You can use the TurboTax estimate, or divide your expected shortfall by the number of pay periods in a year to get the additional amount to deduct from each paycheck for 2025.