Taxpayers who earned income in California but were not legal residents of the state during the year or who only lived in California for part of the year still need to file a California state income tax return. The form nonresidents and part-year residents need to file is Form 540NR. There are two versions of California's Form 540NR: the short form and the long form. Both forms begin with the information on your federal tax return. The long form includes adjustments to the federal income for California-specific transactions and enables eligible taxpayers to take advantage of additional credits. Which form you file depends on several factors.
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Your California filing status will generally be the same as your federal filing status. There are a few exceptions for military individuals and same-sex married/RDP (registered domestic partner) couples who were required to file as single for federal tax purposes.
