Guidebook to California Taxes

I often buy the U.S. Master Guide together with the Guidebook to California Taxes.

California tax preparers need such a guide because it's almost impossible to remember all the differences between U.S. and California tax laws.

If you would like a sample of what I'm talking about, dear reader, pictured on the right is a data input sheet for a professional tax service. It lists the various items by which Federal Adjusted Gross Income differs from California's. (There are similar input sheets for itemized deductions and tax credits.)

California has the highest marginal tax rate (14.4%, including the 1.1% surtax on wages over $1 million) of all the States in the Union. What is not often noted are all the adjustments to Federal taxable income that generally increase California income. To be sure, there are adjustments that go the other way, such as Social Security benefits and U.S. Treasury interest, both of which are not taxable in any state.

Such complexity is why tax preparers need the Guidebook to California Taxes, and why it is 1,024 pages long compared to the U.S. Master Guide's 944 pages.