Moving into or out of California: the move-year tax figured before or after you move
Free tax review
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We find the residency date the facts support, split your pay by workdays, figure what each state taxes, and prepare the move-year returns. The first review is free, any planning is one flat fee quoted in writing before work starts, and individual returns start at $350. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with people moving into or out of California in any state.
Typical situations
Do you take on the tax side of a move into or out of California?
Yes, we take on the tax side of a move into or out of California: a remote worker leaving partway through the year, stock pay still vesting at the move, a new job that brings someone to California, a California house kept as a rental or sold after the move, and a residency letter from the FTB (the Franchise Tax Board, California’s tax agency) after the move.
A remote worker keeping a California job after a move to Texas or Nevada
We work from the W-2 and its state boxes, the lease or closing papers for the new home, and a calendar of the days worked and the trips back to California. If every paycheck stays reported to California, or the trips back go uncounted, the California return taxes the wrong days. We find the move date the records support, count the California workdays from the calendar, and prepare the federal return, California’s part-year return — the return for someone who was a California resident for only part of the year — and the new state’s return if it requires one. Individual returns from $350 — here is how we prepare the return.
An employee whose RSUs keep vesting after a move out of California
RSUs are restricted stock units: shares the employer grants that become the employee’s on set dates, called vesting dates. The file holds the grant and vesting schedule from the plan administrator, the date of the move, the W-2 for each vest year with both states in its boxes, the 1099-B for any shares sold, and a record of workdays since the grant. The same vest can land on two states’ returns, and without a record of the workdays the split can’t be checked. One method the FTB describes splits each vest by California workdays from grant to vest, and a California resident on the vest date is taxed on all of it. We total the grant-to-vest workdays from the employee’s own records and prepare both states’ returns.
Someone moving into California for a new job
The file holds the offer letter with the start date and work address, the last pay stub from the old job, the moving receipts, and the brokerage or closing statements for anything they plan to sell. A bonus or a sale that lands after the start date is easy to report only to the old state. From the day they become a California resident, California taxes all their income, including a bonus from the old job paid after that date. A stock or property sale after the move is taxed by California on the whole gain, even on what was bought before they came. If the old state taxes part of it, a credit may apply. We line up the start date, the move date and any planned sale, figure the gain with the sale dated before and after the move, and check the California moving deduction.
A family keeping the California house as a rental after moving away
The file holds the lease, the rent and expense records, the mortgage and property tax statements, and the purchase closing statement. Once the family is gone, the rental is easy to leave off a California return — yet rent from the California house stays California income every year it’s rented, reported on a California nonresident return whenever the filing requirement is met. We put the rental on the California return each year and keep the depreciation records a later sale will need. More on renting out the home you left. Self-employed or with a rental, from $650.
Someone selling the California house after moving away
Escrow (the company that closes the sale) usually handles the Form 593, California’s real estate withholding form; the rest of the file is the purchase closing statement, the improvement records and the move-out date. The main-home exclusion — up to $250,000 of gain, $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, after owning it and living in it as the main home at least 24 months of the 5 years ending on the sale date — still applies, and California applies the same exclusion to a gain that stays California income after the move. The buyer generally has to withhold California tax unless the seller certifies a main-home exemption on Form 593 before escrow closes, and a house last used as a rental doesn’t qualify for that box. The easy mistake is certifying the main-home exemption on Form 593 for a house that was rented out after the move. We figure the exclusion and check which Form 593 exemption the facts support before escrow closes; the seller signs it. More on the tax on selling a California home.
A person who moved out of California last year and has an FTB letter asking about the move
The file holds the letter and the return as filed, including its Schedule CA (540NR) — the schedule where the California part is figured — with its answers on the move date, the days spent in California and property still owned. It also holds the records that date the move: the lease or closing, the new driver’s license and voter registration, bank and card statements, travel records and a calendar. The letter asks the person to back up the move, and those answers have to hold up against the bank, card and travel records. The FTB’s audit manual has its auditors gather facts on both states and prepare calendars of where the person was, from bank and card statements, airline tickets, travel expense reports and correspondence. We tell them which records matter and organize them with the return as filed; they, or their attorney, send the reply. Read: what a move to Florida has to show the state you left.
Someone retiring rather than moving for work has a different set of questions — pensions, IRAs and Social Security — and is better served by our retirement relocation tax planning page.
Residency
When do I stop or start being a California resident?
You stop being a California resident when you leave for good, and you start being one when you arrive to stay — for example, for a job assignment of long or indefinite length. California treats you as a resident while you’re in the state for other than a temporary or passing purpose. Anyone else is a nonresident, and someone who is a resident for only part of the year is a part-year resident.
We line up your ties to each state — home, family, licenses, registrations, banks, doctors, work and days — against your planned move date, weighing the strength of the ties rather than the number. We count your days against the nine-month presumption: more than nine months in California in a year creates a presumption of residency that can be rebutted, and fewer than nine months isn’t a presumption of nonresidency. A declaration of residency in the new state doesn’t settle it on its own; residency is a question of fact, and the FTB won’t give a written opinion on it — so we tell you which date the records point to and what still points to the old state. You decide, and you sign the return.
The move year
What does California tax in the year I move?
In the year you move, California taxes everything you earn while you’re a resident, wherever it comes from. For the rest of the year it taxes only your California-source income — income California taxes even after you live elsewhere.
As a nonresident, your pay is California income only for days worked in California, split by California workdays over total workdays; pay tied to the California job that arrives after you leave (a final paycheck, bonus, vacation payout or severance) still counts, and pay from the old job that arrives after you move in is taxed by California, with a possible credit for the old state’s tax. We tally the California days from your own calendar and match every payment that arrives after the move to where the work was done.
What you get
What do I get from a tax review of my move?
From the planning review you get the move date your records back up, the move-year figures for both states, and the changes worth making before the year ends; after the year ends, the move-year returns.
The residency date
The date your documents support, with the papers behind it: the lease or closing, the licenses, the registrations, the day count. The return’s residency answers match what the records say.
The move-year figures
Which income goes on which state’s return, the workday split for wages and stock pay, and any credit for tax paid to two states — the actual numbers, in order, with the reasoning written next to them.
What to change before the year ends
Withholding at work for each state, and the tax figured both ways — before and after the move — on a sale or option exercise you can time. The choice stays yours.
The move-year returns
Federal, California Form 540NR — the nonresident or part-year resident return — and the other state’s, prepared by one team, or the figures handed to your own preparer.
Every review ends with an honest read on whether planning is worth paying for. When the answer is no, we tell you and you’re done.
What we check
What do you check before anything is filed?
We read the documents that date the move and the documents that pay you: the W-2s and their state boxes, the last pay stub from the old job, the workday calendar, the lease or closing papers, the stock plan statements and the 1099-B, the rental records or the sale closing statement and Form 593, any return filed in the other state, and last year’s federal and California returns.
- State wages and withholding on each W-2, against the workday count
- Trips back to California, marked day by day
- The move date on the lease or closing papers, against the residency answers on the return
- Grant, vest and exercise dates on the stock plan summary, and the 1099-B
- The exemption claimed on Form 593, against how the home was last used
- The other state’s return as filed, for the credit
- Last year’s returns, for the residency they reported
- Moving receipts, where the California deduction may apply
California
What’s different in California in the year I move?
In the year you move, four things on the California side work differently from the federal return: the move-year return itself, the credit when two states tax the same income, the moving deduction, and withholding at work.
- Form 540NR. California figures its rate on the whole year’s income as if you had lived there all year, then applies that rate only to the California part — and the return asks for the move date, the number of days spent in California for any reason, and whether you still own property there. We answer those lines from the records behind them.
- Schedule S, California’s other-state tax credit. This credit applies when two states tax the same income. If you’re a California resident, you may claim it for tax paid to the other state on income California’s rules source there, unless that state gives California residents the credit. If you’re not a California resident, you can claim it only if you live in one of the few places the FTB lists; otherwise any relief comes from the other state’s return, if it offers it. A part-year resident follows each set of rules for each part of the year. We figure which return carries the credit and attach the other state’s return.
- FTB 3913, California’s moving expense form. California still allows a moving deduction that the federal return dropped after 2017. A move for a new job can qualify if the new workplace is at least 50 miles farther from the old home than the old workplace was and you work full time in the new area at least 39 weeks of the first 12 months (self-employed: also 78 weeks of the first 24 months), with exceptions such as a transfer for the employer’s benefit or a layoff; it counts in full for a move into California and generally not for a move out. We check both tests from the dates and the receipts.
- Withholding at work. An employer withholds California tax from all of a resident’s pay, wherever the work is done, and from a nonresident’s pay only for days worked in California. We compare what was withheld for each state with what each state will tax.
Pricing
What does move-year tax planning cost in 2026?
The first review is free; individual returns are from $350, self-employed returns from $650 with one business or one rental on the same return, and business returns from $850 with the owner’s personal return included; any planning after the free review, and each return, is one flat fee quoted in writing before we start.
What moves a quote: how many states are involved and whether each needs a part-year or nonresident return; whether pay has to be split by workdays — remote work, trips back to California, a transfer partway through the year; whether there is stock pay, deferred pay or a bonus earned before the move; whether a California home is kept as a rental or sold; whether there is a business or a rental on the same return; and whether a prior year filed with the wrong residency has to be fixed first. The quote is the price.
Planning review
$0 first review
- Planning after it only if it’s worth paying for
Individual return
from $350
- Federal and California e-filed together, one price
- California’s part-year or nonresident return included
Self-employed or with a rental
from $650
- One business or one rental on the same return — such as the California house rented out after the move
No separate price sits on Form 540NR, another state’s return, a workday split, a Form 593 review, an other-state credit computation, residency records or an amended year — those sit inside the quote.
How it works
What happens after the free call?
After the call come the engagement letter, the documents, the planning review and the returns, in that order.
The 30-minute call
Six to eight questions: when you move or moved, where you lived and worked before and after, remote or on-site work and any days back in California, stock pay or a bonus earned before the move, a California home kept or sold, and which other states are involved. It ends with one flat price for the work we’d take on.
The engagement letter
Sent during the call with the price in it. You sign when you’re ready.
Documents
Signing sets up a short onboarding call; the secure-portal invite comes from that call, with a short checklist: the W-2s, a calendar of where you worked, and the lease or closing papers that date the move.
The planning review
We pin down the move date the records support, tally the workdays for wages and stock pay from your records, figure which income each state taxes and any credit, check the California moving deduction, compare withholding for each state, and for a California home figure the rental or the sale. You decide when to move, sell or exercise.
The return
Half the return fee starts the work, and the balance is due before e-file. You see the return before it’s filed.
Communication
You’ll know where the move-year figures and both states’ returns stand.
The person who answers the phone is on the same team that figures your move year and prepares the returns.
The same-day rule
Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — all twelve months.
Moving in, moving out or already gone
Tell us the move date, the states and any stock pay or California house on the call, and you’ll get a straight answer on whether we’re the right fit.
Admitted to practice before the IRS
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up after the move, forward it: how we handle IRS letters.
The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team
For a person moving into or out of California, we figure the workday split and the credit, and prepare the federal, California and other-state returns from the same numbers.
Tax planning · Tax preparation · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495
Reviews
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"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."
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"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."
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Where we work
Do you work with people moving into or out of California wherever they live now?
Yes — we work with people moving into or out of California remotely, wherever they live now. Documents come through the secure portal, and we walk through the numbers by phone and screen share. If you live in another state, we prepare that state’s return too and price it into your quote.
What we don’t do
We figure and prepare; we don’t choose where you move, advise on domicile (your one permanent home, the place you intend to return to) as a legal matter, handle property tax, set up an employer’s payroll, or give investment or financial advice. We also don’t represent anyone before the FTB — legal questions belong with your attorney.
Worth reading
What can I read before the call?
One related read: whether an RSU vest in the move year can push you over the Roth contribution income limit.
FAQ
California move tax questions
Do I still have to file a California return after I move away?
Generally yes for the year you move, once the filing requirement is met — that year takes a part-year return covering everything earned while you were a resident plus the California-source income from after the move. In later years, a California return is due only when California income continues — rent from or a sale of California property, pay for days worked in California, stock pay earned there — in amounts that require a filing. We prepare the move-year return and check each year after against what California income remains.
I work remotely for a California company. Does California tax my pay after I move?
Only for the days you physically work in California, once you’re a nonresident — where the employer is, where the paycheck is issued or where you receive it doesn’t decide it. Stock pay and deferred pay earned while working in California can still be taxed by California after you leave. We mark each California workday from your calendar, check the W-2’s California wages and withholding against that count, and flag a W-2 that needs correcting by the employer.
What’s the difference between domicile and residency?
Domicile is your one permanent home, the place you intend to return to; California residency for tax turns on why you’re in or out of the state, so someone can be domiciled in California without being a resident, or the reverse. Changing domicile takes all three: leaving the old one, moving to and living in the new place, and intending to stay there permanently or indefinitely, shown by what you do. We line up the facts and what they show, and we tell you when a question needs an attorney.
Is relocation money from my employer taxable?
On the federal return, generally yes: since 2018 an employer’s payment of moving costs isn’t excluded from income, except for active-duty military moving under a military order for a permanent change of station and, for 2026 moves on, intelligence-community employees and new appointees moving for a change in assignment. California didn’t adopt the federal change; a reimbursement is sourced to the state you move to, so a move into California puts it in the California column and a move out generally doesn’t. We check the W-2 and whether the California moving deduction applies.
Do I stop being a California resident if my job sends me out of state for a year or two?
Not necessarily: leaving for a temporary work assignment with plans to come back can leave you a California resident, taxed on all your income. The law has a safe harbor: if California is your permanent home and you work outside the state under an employment-related contract for at least 546 consecutive days, you’re treated as a nonresident — unless visits back total more than 45 days in a tax year, your income from stocks, bonds and similar investments tops $200,000 in a tax year, or the main purpose of the absence is avoiding California tax. We check the contract, the dates and the visits against the safe harbor.
Is it too late to plan if I already moved?
No. The returns for the year you moved still need the residency date backed by records, the workday split and any credit figured, and what was withheld at work can still be checked against each state’s share before the year ends. A past year filed with the wrong residency can be looked at for an amended return, priced into the quote. Earlier leaves more room, because some changes — withholding, the timing of a sale — close with the calendar year.
Moving this year, or already moved?
One free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs — whether or not you hire us.
Rather talk now? Call (661) 554-4495 — reach us during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day.
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. This page is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation.