California State Income Tax Withholding

Reference Number: NFC-25-1741290981
Published: March 10, 2025
Effective: Pay Period 03, 2025

Summary

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

The low income exemption amount for Married with 0 or 1 Exemption and Single has changed from $17,769 to $18,368.
The low income exemption amount for Married with 2 or more Exemptions and Head of Household has changed from $35,538 to $36,736.
The standard deduction for Married with 0 OR 1 Exemption and Single has changed from $5,363 to $5,540.
The standard deduction for Married with 2 or more Exemptions and Head of Household has changed from $10,726 to $11,080.
The Single, Married, and Head of Household withholding tables have changed.
The annual personal exemption credit has changed from $158.40 to $163.90.

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 03, 2025)

Subtract the nontaxable biweekly Thrift Savings Plan contribution from the gross biweekly wages.
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.
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.
Multiply the adjusted gross biweekly wages by the number of pay dates in the tax year to obtain the gross annual wages.
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	$18,368
Married Claiming 0 or 1 exemption1	$18,368
Married Claiming 2 or more exemptions1	$36,736
Head of Household	$36,736

1 Number 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).

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.

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	$5,540
Married Claiming 0 or 1 exemption1	$5,540
Married Claiming 2 or more exemptions1	$11,080
Head of Household	$11,080

1 Number 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).

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 $10,756	1.1%
Over $10,756 but not over $25,499	$118.32 plus 2.2% of excess over $10,756
Over $25,499 but not over $40,245	$442.67 plus 4.4% of excess over $25,499
Over $40,245 but not over $55,866	$1,091.49 plus 6.6% of excess over $40,245
Over $55,866 but not over $70,606	$2,122.48 plus 8.8% of excess over $55,866
Over $70,606 but not over $360,659	$3,419.60 plus 10.23% of excess over $70,606
Over $360,659 but not over $432,787	$33,092.02 plus 11.33% of excess over $360,659
Over $432,787 but not over $721,314	$41,264.12 plus 12.43% of excess over $432,787
Over $721,314 but not over $1,000,000	$77,128.03 plus 13.53% of excess over $721,314
$1,000,000 and over	$114,834.25 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 $21,512	1.1%
Over $21,512 but not over $50,998	$236.63 plus 2.2% of excess over $21,512
Over $50,998 but not over $80,490	$885.32 plus 4.4% of excess over $50,998
Over $80,490 but not over $111,732	$2,182.97 plus 6.6% of excess over $80,490
Over $111,732 but not over $141,212	$4,244.94 plus 8.8% of excess over $111,732
Over $141,212 but not over $721,318	$6,839.18 plus 10.23% of excess over $141,212
Over $721,318 but not over $865,574	$66,184.02 plus 11.33% of excess over $721,318
Over $865,574 but not over $1,000,000	$82,528.22 plus 12.43% of excess over $865,574
Over $1,000,000 but not over $1,442,628	$99,237.37 plus 13.53% of excess over $1,000,000
$1,442,628 and over	$159,124.94 plus 14.63% of excess over $1,442,628

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 $21,527	1.1%
Over $21,527 but not over $51,000	$236.80 plus 2.2% of excess over $21,527
Over $51,000 but not over $65,744	$885.21 plus 4.4% of excess over $51,000
Over $65,744 but not over $81,364	$1,533.95 plus 6.6% of excess over $65,744
Over $81,364 but not over $96,107	$2,564.87 plus 8.8% of excess over $81,364
Over $96,107 but not over $490,493	$3,862.25 plus 10.23% of excess over $96,107
Over $490,493 but not over $588,593	$44,207.94 plus 11.33% of excess over $490,493
Over $588,593 but not over $980,987	$55,322.67 plus 12.43% of excess over $588,593
Over $980,987 but not over $1,000,000	$104,097.24 plus 13.53% of excess over $980,987
$1,000,000 and over	$106,669.70 plus 14.63% of excess over $1,000,000

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

Tax Credit = $163.90 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.

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

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