The California Standard Deduction Worksheet for Dependents is a five-line calculation in the Form 540 booklet that gives a dependent filer a deduction equal to the larger of $1,350 or their earned income plus $450, capped at the full standard deduction for their filing status. For the 2025 tax year, that cap is $5,706 for a single filer or someone married/RDP filing separately, and $11,412 for a joint filer, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse. The Franchise Tax Board has not yet released 2026 figures, so anyone filing for tax year 2026 should confirm the amounts in that year’s Form 540 booklet.1Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Personal Income Tax Booklet
The Three Rules Behind the Number
The worksheet isn’t arbitrary. It enforces three rules at once, and knowing them makes the five lines self-explanatory.
First, a floor. However little the dependent earned, the deduction cannot fall below $1,350 for 2025. A high schooler with $200 in summer wages still gets the full $1,350.2Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 540 California Resident Income Tax Return
Second, an earnings-based figure. Once earnings pass the floor, the deduction tracks income: earned income plus a $450 federal add-on. A dependent who earned $3,000 gets $3,450 under this rule.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 551, Standard Deduction
Third, a ceiling. The deduction can never exceed the standard deduction a non-dependent would get for the same filing status: $5,706 single or married/RDP filing separately, $11,412 joint, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse.2Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 540 California Resident Income Tax Return A dependent earning $10,000 would compute $10,450 under the earnings rule, but the ceiling brings it back down to $5,706.
Running the Worksheet
The California worksheet doesn’t start from scratch. It pulls a number from the federal Standard Deduction Worksheet for Dependents, so complete that one first.
Step 1: Do the Federal Worksheet
On the federal worksheet in the Form 1040 or 1040-SR instructions, the dependent enters total earned income on line 1 and adds $450 to get line 2.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information The line 2 result is what California asks for. Note that the $450 add-on is already baked in at the federal stage; don’t add it again later.
Earned income here means wages, salaries, tips, and net self-employment income. Taxable scholarship or fellowship money not reported on a W-2 is unearned income and doesn’t belong on line 1.
Step 2: Fill In the California Worksheet
The California worksheet reads as follows for 2025:1Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Personal Income Tax Booklet
- Line 1: the amount from line 2 of the federal Dependent Standard Deduction Worksheet (earned income plus $450).
- Line 2: $1,350.
- Line 3: the larger of line 1 or line 2.
- Line 4: $5,706 if single or married/RDP filing separately; $11,412 if filing jointly, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse.
- Line 5: the smaller of line 3 or line 4. This is the California standard deduction.
A Worked Example
A college student earns $4,200 from a part-time job in 2025 and is claimed on her parents’ return. Federal worksheet: $4,200 on line 1, $4,650 on line 2. California worksheet: $4,650 on line 1, $1,350 on line 2, $4,650 on line 3 (the larger), $5,706 on line 4, $4,650 on line 5 (the smaller). Her California standard deduction is $4,650.
Change the earnings to $8,000. Federal line 2 becomes $8,450. On the California worksheet, line 3 is $8,450, but line 4 is $5,706, so line 5 is $5,706. The ceiling controls.
Where the Number Goes on the Return
The line 5 result goes on line 18 of the California return.2Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 540 California Resident Income Tax Return Full-year residents use Form 540. Nonresidents and part-year residents use Form 540NR, and the 540NR instructions specifically direct dependents to the worksheet rather than the flat standard deduction for their filing status.5Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 540NR Nonresident or Part-Year Resident Booklet Either way, the deduction reduces California adjusted gross income to arrive at taxable income.6Franchise Tax Board. Standard Deduction
Mistakes That Trigger an FTB Notice
The most common error is entering the full $5,706 on line 18 without running the worksheet. The FTB’s automated systems flag this the moment the return also indicates the filer is a dependent, and a reduced-deduction adjustment notice follows.
The second is pulling the wrong number from the federal worksheet. California line 1 wants federal line 2, not federal line 1. Entering just earned income shortchanges the deduction by $450. The opposite mistake happens too: some filers add $450 on the California worksheet, not realizing the imported federal figure already includes it, and end up double-counting.
What the Worksheet Doesn’t Cover
The worksheet handles only the deduction. If the dependent also has significant unearned income (interest, dividends, capital gains, or taxable scholarship money not on a W-2), a separate rule applies. For 2025, a child under 19, or a full-time student under 24, with more than $2,700 in unearned income must complete Form FTB 3800 alongside Form 540 to compute tax on the unearned portion at the parent’s rate.1Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Personal Income Tax Booklet That calculation runs parallel to, not through, the standard deduction worksheet.
One more filing-threshold point worth knowing: a dependent whose income sits below the calculated standard deduction generally has no California filing obligation, but should still file if California tax was withheld and they want the refund.