Do you have to file CA State Tax if living abroad?

Each year we do our taxes on HR Block it always forces us to do State Taxes for California. It’s such a tedious experience every year. I’m wondering if I can somehow not file.

We have moved away from CA for 8 years and only go back for holidays 3 weeks every two years.

We have no ties, no driving licenses , nothing. Everything has expired. There are no sources of income, or any ties at all.

Am I free from filing?

I don’t know the answer but I am interested in knowing the answer as our daughter moved back from California last year. She will still have to file and pay California taxes for 2023 as she she still works for a California company.

I still file Louisiana taxes even though we left the State in 2010 and have never been back. This is because I receive a non qualified pension from my old employer who is a Louisiana registered company, reported on a W2. I have to file as a Louisiana non-resident and pay taxes on that W2 income only.

What income are you being taxed on when you file a California return?

Hi, no income at all. Although  they want to know my gross income here and what U.K. tax I paid. I just can’t seem to proceed on the online software without going through the state return too.

The CA website states:
Generally, you must file an income tax return if you’re a resident, part-year resident, or nonresident and:
Are required to file a federal return

A nonresident is a person who is not a resident of California.

Generally, nonresidents are:

Simply passing through
Here for a brief rest or vacation
Here for a short period of time to complete:
A job
A transaction
Contract work


So I’m required to file Federal, and going on vacation is there. So yeah, guess I do file. What a joke.

Hi, no income at all. Although  they want to know my gross income here and what U.K. tax I paid. I just can’t seem to proceed on the online software without going through the state return too.

The CA website states:
Generally, you must file an income tax return if you’re a resident, part-year resident, or nonresident and:
Are required to file a federal return

A nonresident is a person who is not a resident of California.

Generally, nonresidents are:

Simply passing through
Here for a brief rest or vacation
Here for a short period of time to complete:
A job
A transaction
Contract work


So I’m required to file Federal, and going on vacation is there. So yeah, guess I do file. What a joke.

Very strange. Based on that definition I should be filing California returns since I am nonresident but am required to file a Federal return. Our daughter lived there for 10 years so we have visited her several times and would classify as having had vacations there.

As far as I know, New York and California are the most aggressive about keeping their hooks in you. It is worth consulting with a professional about how to properly cut your California ties in a way that is audit proof. I was audited by New York when I left and it was super stressful. I won in the end but they even sent an agent to the apartment building where we used to live (and kept an apartment which we rented out ) to ask the doormen how often they had seen us. It took about eight months to resolve.


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Hi. If you have Cali income, you'll be taxed on it no matter where you live (excepting pensions).

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/residency-status/part-year-and-nonresident.html#Leaving-California-

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2022/2022-540nr-booklet.html

If you do not have Cali income, a lease or driving license (etc.) in another state or country should do for proof of non-residency. I had absolutely no problem with them when I moved to the UK, but did file a part-year resident tax return the first year we were in the UK as I'd lived in Cali for part of their tax year. If memory serves, there was a blank on the form where I entered the date we left. (But I could be mistaken - it's been a while.)  I wonder if the problem is more with your tax service than the State?