| Items You Need |
Complete your California return faster by having the following items available before you begin CalFile:
- The last name you used when you filed your 2008 income tax return. For more information, see our Frequently Asked Questions.
- All income and tax statements you received for 2009, such as Forms W-2, W-2G, 1099-G, 1099-INT, and 1099-R.
- Your estimated tax payment amounts, if any.
- Care provider information, if claiming the Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit.
- Use tax information, if reporting California use tax.
- Your bank account information to get your refund by direct deposit or to pay your balance due electronically.
We also recommend you have your completed 2009 federal tax return. |
| Time Limit and Total Time |
You have up to 30 minutes to complete each page within
CalFile. For security purposes, if you take longer than 30 minutes we
will log you out of CalFile and you will need to start your return over.
Expect to spend 15 minutes to 2 hours completing your return.
|
| Saving Your Return |
You can save a copy of your final
return in Portable Document Format (PDF). You cannot
save your partially completed return in CalFile and come back to it later.
When you log out of CalFile, we erase any information you entered for security purposes.
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| Navigation |
You must use the navigation buttons on the bottom of each page to avoid unintentionally exiting CalFile and losing your information.
- "Continue" takes you forward one page.
- "Back" takes you to the page you just completed.
- "Skip" bypasses the part of your return you are working
on and takes you to the next part of your return.
|
| Progress Bar |
The gray and blue boxes across the top of the pages show your progress
through CalFile and let you know what you still need to complete
on your return.
|
| Making Changes |
- If you make an error before you continue to the next page, delete the wrong information, and enter the correct information,
or use the update function if provided.
- If you find an error after you continue to another page,
use the "Back" button at the bottom of
each page, to get to the page that needs changing. Then use the "Continue"
button located at the bottom of each page to return to the page you
were on.
- If you find an error after you e-file your return, you
will need to complete an
Amended Individual Income Tax Return, Form 540X.
CalFile does not permit you to make changes to a previously filed return.
|
| Required Entry |
An asterisk (*) indicates a required entry. If you have no entry for a required amount field, enter zero.
|
| Rounding to Whole Dollars |
- Amounts under 50 cents: drop the cents.
- Amounts from 50 to 99 cents: increase to the next whole dollar.
For example, $123.49 becomes $123 and $725.50 becomes $726.
|
| Punctuation |
You do not need punctuation marks. For example,
omit:
- Dashes (-) in identification numbers
- Dollar signs ($) and commas (,) in monetary amounts
- Apostrophes (') and dashes in names
- Periods (.) in monetary amounts, abbreviations, and addresses
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| Exiting CalFile |
You can exit CalFile at any time by clicking the "Log Out" link located at the
bottom of each web page.
When you confirm that you want to exit, we will erase all of the information you entered.
We recommend that you close your browser when you are done to ensure the highest level of security. |
| Getting Help |
Get online help and instructions by clicking the question mark icon  .
|
| FAQs |
For more information, please read our Frequently
Asked Questions.
|
Important Information Before You Start CalFile