California State Income Tax Withholding

Reference Number: NFC-24-1711996294
Published: April 4, 2024
Effective: Pay Period 04, 2024

Summary

The income tax withholdings formula for the State of California includes the following changes:

No action on the part of the employee or the personnel office is necessary.

Tax Formula

State Abbreviation:

CA

State Tax Withholding State Code:

06

Acceptable Exemption Form:

DE-4

Basis for Withholding:

State Exemptions

Acceptable Exemption Data:

S/M/H, Number of Regular Allowances, Number of Additional Allowances

TSP Deferred:

Yes

Special Coding:

Determine the Total Number of Allowances
Claimed field as follows:
First Position - Enter the employee's marital
status indicated on the allowance certificate. Enter M (married), S (single), or H (head of household).
Second and Third Positions - Enter the total
number of regular allowances claimed in Item 1 of the DE-4. If less than 10, precede with a zero (0). If no allowance are claimed, enter 00.
Determine the Additional Allowances Claimed
field as follows:
First and Second Positions - Enter the number of additional allowances claimed on the DE-4. If less than 10, precede with a zero (0). If no allowances are claimed, enter 00.

Additional Information:

Employees who have not submitted a DE-4 will default to Single and zero (S00) allowances.

Withholding Formula (Effective Pay Period 04, 2024)

  1. Subtract the nontaxable biweekly Thrift Savings Plan contribution from the gross biweekly wages.
  2. Subtract the nontaxable biweekly Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan payment(s) (includes dental and vision insurance program and Flexible Spending Account — health care and dependent care deductions) from the amount computed in step 1.
  3. Add the taxable biweekly fringe benefits (e.g., taxable life insurance) to the amount computed in step 2 to obtain the adjusted gross biweekly wages.
  4. Multiply the adjusted gross biweekly wages by the number of pay dates in the tax year to obtain the gross annual wages.
  5. Determine if the employee's gross salary and wages are less than or equal to the amount shown in the Low Income Exemption Table below. If so, no income tax is to be withheld.

Low Income Exemption Table

Single

$17,769

Married Claiming 0 or 1 exemption1

$17,769

Married Claiming 2 or more exemptions1

$35,538

Head of Household

$35,538

1Number of regular allowances claimed on DE-4.

Note: If the employee uses additional allowances for estimated deductions to reduce the amount of salaries and wages subject to withholding, such allowances must not be used in the computation of the low income exemption (Step 5) or standard deduction (Step 7).

  1. Determine the additional withholding allowance for itemized deductions (AWAID) by applying the following guideline and subtract this amount from the gross annual wages:

AWAID = $1,000 x Number of Itemized Allowances Claimed for Itemized Deductions on 
DE-4 or W-4.

  1. Subtract the standard deduction shown in the Standard Deduction Table below from the result of step 6 to determine the taxable income.

Standard Deduction Table

Single

$5,363

Married Claiming 0 or 1 exemption1

$5,363

Married Claiming 2 or more exemptions1

$10,726

Head of Household

$10,726

1Number of regular allowances claimed on DE-4.

Note: If the employee uses additional allowances for estimated deductions to reduce the
amount of salaries and wages subject to withholding, such allowances must not be used
in the computation of the low income exemption (Step 5) or standard deduction (Step 7).

  1. If the employee is claiming Single, Married, or Head of Household use the appropriate table below and apply the following tax rates to annualized taxable wages to determine the annual tax amount:

Single Tax Withholding Table

If the Amount of Taxable Income Is:

The Amount of Tax Withholding Should Be:

Over $0 but not over $10,412

1.1%

Over $10,412 but not over $24,684

$114.53 plus 2.2% of excess over $10,412

Over $24,684 but not over $38,959

$428.51 plus 4.4% of excess over $24,684

Over $38,959 but not over $54,081

$1,056.61 plus 6.6% of excess over $38,959

Over $54,081 but not over $68,350

$2,054.66 plus 8.8% of excess over $54,081

Over $68,350 but not over $349,137

$3,310.33 plus 10.23% of excess over $68,350

Over $349,137 but not over $418,961

$32,034.84 plus 11.33% of excess over $349,137

Over $418,961 but not over $698,271

$39,945.90 plus 12.43% of excess over $418,961

Over $698,271 but not over $1,000,000

$74,664.13 plus 13.53% of excess over $698,271

Over $1,000,000

$115,488.06 plus 14.63% of excess over
$1,000,000

Married Tax Withholding Table

If the Amount of Taxable Income Is:

The Amount of Tax Withholding Should Be:

Over $0 but not over $20,824

1.1%

Over $20,824 but not over $49,368

$229.06 plus 2.2% of excess over $20,824

Over $49,368 but not over $77,918

$857.03 plus 4.4% of excess over $49,368

Over $77,918 but not over $108,162

$2,113.23 plus 6.6% of excess over $77,918

Over $108,162 but not over $136,700

$4,109.33 plus 8.8% of excess over $108,162

Over $136,700 but not over $698,274

$6,620.67 plus 10.23% of excess over $136,700

Over $698,274 but not over $837,922

$64,069.69 plus 11.33% of excess over $698,274

Over $837,922 but not over $1,000,000

$79,891.81 plus 12.43% of excess over $837,922

Over $1,000,000 but not over $1,396,542

$100,038.11 plus 13.53% of excess over $1,000,000

Over $1,396,542

$153,690.24 plus 14.63% of excess over
$1,396,542

Head of Household Tax Withholding Table

If the Amount of Taxable Income Is:

The Amount of Tax Withholding Should Be:

Over $0 but not over $20,839

1.1%

Over $20,839 but not over $49,371

$229.23 plus 2.2% of excess over $20,839

Over $49,371 but not over $63,644

$856.93 plus 4.4% of excess over $49,371

Over $63,644 but not over $78,765

$1,484.94 plus 6.6% of excess over $63,644

Over $78,765 but not over $93,037

$2,482.93 plus 8.8% of excess over $78,765

Over $93,037 but not over $474,824

$3,738.87 plus 10.23% of excess over $93,037

Over $474,824 but not over $569,790

$42,795.68 plus 11.33% of excess over $474,824

Over $569,790 but not over $949,649

$53,555.33 plus 12.43% of excess over $569,790

Over $949,649 but not over $1,000,000

$100,771.80 plus 13.53% of excess over $949,649

Over $1,000,000

$107,584.29 plus 14.63% of excess over
$1,000,000

  1. Determine the tax credit by applying the following guidelines and subtract this amount from the result in step 8:

Tax Credit = $158.40 x Number of Regular Allowances Claimed on DE-4.

Note: The number of additional allowances for estimated deductions claimed in step 6
must not be included when determining the tax credit.

  1. Divide the annual California tax withholding calculated in step 9 by the number of pay dates in the tax year to obtain the biweekly California income tax withholding.

Resources

To view the updated tax formula, go to the HR and Payroll Clients page from the MyNFC
drop-down menu on the National Finance Center (NFC) Home page. Select the Publications tab and select Taxes from the Publications Library menu to launch the tax map. Select the desired State from the map provided for the formula.

Previous Tax Bulletin

Inquiries

For questions about NFC processing, authorized Servicing Personnel Office representatives should contact the NFC Contact Center at 1-855-NFC-4GOV (1-855-632-4468) or via the customer service portal at ServiceNow Portal for Federated Users and at ServiceNow Portal for Non-Federated Users.