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Federal attachment requirements

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) needs you to attach the federal return to the California return as follows:
  • Form 540: Federal return is needed if the federal return includes supporting forms or schedules other than Schedule A or Schedule B.
  • Form 540NR: Federal return is needed for all Form 540NR returns.
The application includes the attachments with any electronically filed Form 540 or 540NR, regardless of whether you file the federal return electronically with the IRS.

Exception to the federal attachment requirement

Taxpayers who file a married filing joint return for California purposes where Form 540 or Form 540NR includes the Registered Domestic Partner (RDP) Adjustments Worksheet, and who file single returns for federal purposes, don't need to attach a copy of the federal return to the joint California return.
For electronic filing, the application uses the previous FTB requirements for attaching the federal return to the California return. Use
Include/suppress federal attachment in electronic record (Force)
 on the
CAELF
 screen to force or suppress the federal attachment in the California electronic record.
For paper-filed returns for taxpayers who aren't RDP filers, the federal return prints with the California return when needed. For RDP filers, the application always prints the federal return with the California return. To stop this, select
Setup
,
1040 Individual
, the
California
 tab, then
Other Return Options
, and mark the
Suppress printing of federal return attachments for RDP returns
.
note
The FTB doesn't always reject a California return filed electronically when the federal attachment is needed but missing. Instead of giving an e-file rejection, FTB may suspend processing of the return until you submit the federal attachment. If you're including the federal attachment with the California electronic record, clear all schema errors in the federal return regardless of whether you're actually filing the federal return with the IRS. If you include the federal attachment with the California electronic record, the FTB validates the federal attachment regardless of whether it's needed. If the federal attachment has schema errors, FTB will reject the California return.

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