Filing status
Overview
Your filing status determines the rate your income is taxed. The five filing statuses are:
- Single
- Married/Registered Domestic Partnership (RDP) filing jointly
- Married/RDP filing separately
- Head of household
- Qualifying surviving spouse/RDP with child
Generally, you should file your state tax return using the same status as your federal return.
If you did not file a federal return because you did not have a federal filing requirement, you may use any filing status on your California return that you were entitled to use on your federal return had you been required to file a federal return.