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.