Franchise Tax Board:2009 State Income Tax Rates Adjusted

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) today released the 2009 state tax brackets.
Brackets are "indexed" each year by adjusting them to reflect changes in the
California Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Filing requirement thresholds, the standard deduction, and certain credits were
adjusted along with income tax brackets based on the deflation rate of -1.5
percent, as measured by the California CPI for all urban consumers from June
2008 to June 2009. Last year`s inflation rate measured 5 percent. This has only
occurred one other time since indexing became law in 1978.

The standard deduction will decrease for single or "married filing separate"
taxpayers from last year`s rate of $3,692 to $3,637. For joint, surviving
spouse, or head of household taxpayers, the standard deduction decreases from
$7,384 to $7,274. The personal exemption credit amount for single, separate, and
head of household filers will decrease from $99 to $98 and for joint filers or
surviving spouses it will decrease from $198 to $196. The Renter`s Credit is
available for single filers with adjusted gross incomes of $34,412 or less and
joint filers with adjusted gross incomes of $68,824 or less.

A new tax law sets the dependent exemption credit for tax years 2009 and 2010 to
the indexed personal exemption credit, lowering the credit to $98. Last year`s
credit was $309.

In addition, FTB provides minimum filing requirement thresholds to ensure that
most people who will not owe taxes are not required to file a tax return. FTB
adjusts these tables each year to include the added senior exemption and the
dependent exemption credits. For example, most single people under 65 years old
with no dependents would not need to file a state return until they have
adjusted gross income of $11,698 or more.

Other tax credits affected by indexing include the Joint Custody Head of
Household Credit, Dependent Parent Credit, and Qualified Senior Head of
Household Credit.

More information about this and other tax matters is available at ftb.ca.gov.

File 09-46

Editor`s Note: See the attached chart for filing requirement amounts and tax
rates.

Do I Have to File?
Requirements for Most People

California Gross Income California Adjusted Gross Income
Dependents Dependents
On 12/31/09, my filing status was: and on 12/31/09, my age was: 0 1 2 or more 0 1 2 or more
Single or Head of Household Under 65 14,622 17,889 20,339 11,698 14,965 17,415
65 or older 19,522 21,972 23,932 16,598 19,048 21,008
Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Separate Under 65 (both spouses 29,245 32,512 34,962 23,396 26,663 29,113
65 or older (one spouse) 34,145 36,595 38,555 28,296 30,746 32,706
65 or older (both spouses) 39,045 41,495 43,455 33,196 35,646 37,606
Qualifying Widow(er) Under 65 14,622 17,889 20,339 11,698 14,965 17,415
65 or older 19,522 21,972 23,932 16,598 19,048 21,008
Any Filing Status Under 65 More than your standard deduction
65 or older More than your standard deduction

2009 California Tax Rate Schedules

If the amount on Form 540, Enter on Form 540, line 20 of the
line 19 or Form 540A line 19 is: or Form 540A, line 20 amount over -
over - But not over -
$ 0 $ 7,060 $ 0.00 + 1.25% $ 0
Schedule X - 7,060 16,739 88.25 + 2.25% 7,060
Use if your filing status is 16,739 26,419 306.03 + 4.25% 16,739
Single or Married Filing Separate 26,419 36,675 717.43 + 6.25% 26,419
36,675 46,349 1,358.43 + 8.25% 36,675
46,349 AND OVER 2,156.54 + 9.55% 46,349

$ 0 $ 14,120 $ 0.00 + 1.25% $ 0
Schedule Y - 14,120 33,478 176.50 + 2.25% 14,120
Use if your filing status is 33,478 52,838 612.06 + 4.25% 33,478
Married Filing Joint of Qualifying 52,838 73,350 1,434.86 + 6.25% 52,838
Widow(er) with dependent child 73,350 92,698 2,716.86 + 8.25% 73,350
92,698 AND OVER 4,313.07 + 9.55% 92,698

$ 0 $ 14,130 $ 0.00 + 1.25% $ 0
Schedule Z - 14,130 33,479 176.63 + 2.25% 14,130
Use if your filing status is 33,479 43,157 611.98 + 4.25% 33,479
Head of Household 43,157 53,412 1,023.30 + 6.25% 43,157
53,412 63,089 1,664.24 + 8.25% 53,412
63,089 AND OVER 2,462.59 + 9.55% 63,089

Franchise Tax Board
Brenda Voet, 916-845-4800
cell 916-416-6931
Public Affairs Office
Brenda.Voet@ftb.ca.gov

Copyright Business Wire 2009

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