California State Tax Troubles
July 28, 2015 7:11 AM Subscribe
I won some money in California and taxes were automatically withheld, even though I'm not a resident of CA. I filed CA state taxes to get the withheld amount back, but I didn't hear back about my refund. When I tried to contact California's Tax Powers-That-B, they have no record of my filing and I've conveniently lost all of my paperwork to prove that I did it.
I usually file for free online via turbo tax, but because I had this extra California hiccup to deal with, I went to a VITA site and had my taxes filed for free by volunteers. I recently moved and I've lost all of my tax paperwork and the contact info for the people that filed my taxes. I know that my federal and home state taxes were filed successfuly (because I owed and the money has been taken out of my account).
I tried to get a transcript of my CA tax return and they had no record of it. Now, when I try to file online, CA's e-file option is offline for the rest of the year. I tried to do the paper form myself, but I'm really confused. I can't figure out if I need to include my income that I didn't earn in the state, or just the amount that I won. I would rather avoid going to an expensive accountant because the amount that I won wasn't even that much (~$5000) and it has all been used for bills and such. I don't mind doing the work myself, I just need a bit of guidance.
I usually file for free online via turbo tax, but because I had this extra California hiccup to deal with, I went to a VITA site and had my taxes filed for free by volunteers. I recently moved and I've lost all of my tax paperwork and the contact info for the people that filed my taxes. I know that my federal and home state taxes were filed successfuly (because I owed and the money has been taken out of my account).
I tried to get a transcript of my CA tax return and they had no record of it. Now, when I try to file online, CA's e-file option is offline for the rest of the year. I tried to do the paper form myself, but I'm really confused. I can't figure out if I need to include my income that I didn't earn in the state, or just the amount that I won. I would rather avoid going to an expensive accountant because the amount that I won wasn't even that much (~$5000) and it has all been used for bills and such. I don't mind doing the work myself, I just need a bit of guidance.
You're filing as a nonresident, right? They'll ask you for both your California source income and your total income - you only pay tax on the California portion, but your tax rate is determined by how much you make overall.
I glanced at California's website and it looks like unfortunately, because your award is nonwage income, you'll need to fill out the long version of the 540NR. It asks you for your california wage income (zero), your federal AGI (which you can get from your federal tax return), and your California AGI (which, unless you have certain deductions like educators expenses, is the amount of the award). After that it gets a little more complicated and it's hard to give more details without knowing more about your situation. Basically, you need to pay tax on California source income even if you don't live in California, but you don't need to pay tax on the entire award because some percentage is deductible. The amount of the award that is deductible depends on things like how much other income you have and whether you have an IRA, and that's what it looks like the rest of the form is doing (in a rather complicated way): figuring out how much of the award is taxable and what your tax rate should be. Then you plug in how much tax you actually paid, and California sends you the difference.
posted by exutima at 6:31 PM on July 28, 2015
I glanced at California's website and it looks like unfortunately, because your award is nonwage income, you'll need to fill out the long version of the 540NR. It asks you for your california wage income (zero), your federal AGI (which you can get from your federal tax return), and your California AGI (which, unless you have certain deductions like educators expenses, is the amount of the award). After that it gets a little more complicated and it's hard to give more details without knowing more about your situation. Basically, you need to pay tax on California source income even if you don't live in California, but you don't need to pay tax on the entire award because some percentage is deductible. The amount of the award that is deductible depends on things like how much other income you have and whether you have an IRA, and that's what it looks like the rest of the form is doing (in a rather complicated way): figuring out how much of the award is taxable and what your tax rate should be. Then you plug in how much tax you actually paid, and California sends you the difference.
posted by exutima at 6:31 PM on July 28, 2015
Did you get a Form W2-G when you collected your winnings or did you receive a W2-G in the following January? This form is a record of the winnings you received and the amount of taxes withheld for Federal and, separately, for state taxes.
In order to claim a refund of tax withholding, you will need a copy of the W2-G. There are three places you might be able to get this. The first is from the institution that withheld the taxes. The second is from the IRS. The third is from the Social Security Administration. You may or may not have to pay a fee to get the copy.
Typically California withholds 7% on gambling winnings, so you are talking about approximately $350. You will have to decide if it is worth the trouble to recreate your tax return, given that you have lost all your records.
posted by JackFlash at 6:37 PM on July 28, 2015
In order to claim a refund of tax withholding, you will need a copy of the W2-G. There are three places you might be able to get this. The first is from the institution that withheld the taxes. The second is from the IRS. The third is from the Social Security Administration. You may or may not have to pay a fee to get the copy.
Typically California withholds 7% on gambling winnings, so you are talking about approximately $350. You will have to decide if it is worth the trouble to recreate your tax return, given that you have lost all your records.
posted by JackFlash at 6:37 PM on July 28, 2015
Response by poster: I got a 529 form because the winnings were from a game show, not gambling. I got it in January and I still have it. I don't know if that would be handled differently than a W2-g form?
posted by chara at 4:37 AM on July 29, 2015
posted by chara at 4:37 AM on July 29, 2015
I'm not aware of any Form 529. Do you mean Form 1099-MISC? If so, then box 4 shows the amount of federal tax withheld and box 16 shows the amount of state tax withheld.
With these numbers you should be able to file a California tax return to get back any money from over-withholding. As exutima said above, the California tax return will need your gross income from your federal tax return. If you have lost that return, you can get a copy from the IRS.
posted by JackFlash at 1:16 PM on July 29, 2015
With these numbers you should be able to file a California tax return to get back any money from over-withholding. As exutima said above, the California tax return will need your gross income from your federal tax return. If you have lost that return, you can get a copy from the IRS.
posted by JackFlash at 1:16 PM on July 29, 2015
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posted by Michele in California at 4:21 PM on July 28, 2015