The information below identifies specific situations that MAY require manual entries on a CA return. But for most returns, none of the information in this section will require any action by a counselor.
If the preparer knows that there is no need to enter information in the State Section, that section of TaxSlayer can be ignored. 


  • While California generally follows federal tax law, there are some situations where California and the federal law differ – see FTB Pub 1001, Supplemental Guidelines to California Adjustments (available in electronic version only) for more information. 
  • When these differences lead to adjustments on the CA tax return, the adjustments are listed in CA Schedule CA. 
    • An example is Social Security benefits, which are taxable up to 85% on the federal return, but which are not taxed at all by California.
    • In TaxSlayer, viewing CA Schedule CA requires looking at the PDF for the entire state return.
      • The quickest way to see this PDF is to select the State Section (left navigation bar) and click the small printer icon. 
  • In most cases, TaxSlayer automatically makes the appropriate adjustments from entries on the federal forms.
    • Where TaxSlayer does not automatically make the appropriate adjustment, the word “manually” is used, below, to indicate that you must make entries in TaxSlayer, and the name of the entry is underlined.
  • Preparers and reviewers should verify all entries on CA Schedule CA, if that form appears in the PDF for the tax return. 

Manually Entering Income Differences on CA Schedule CA

  • When the federal and CA returns differ regarding the taxability of income, and TaxSlayer does not automatically handle the difference (by posting to CA Schedule CA), then the difference must be entered manually.
    • On the State Section main menu page, select “Additions to Income” or “Subtractions from Income.”
  • The total of the addition(s) and the total of subtraction(s) on these two TaxSlayer pages will appear on CA Schedule CA Part I, Section B line 8z, separately.
    • It is impossible to make a manual TaxSlayer entry that posts to any line in Part I of CA Schedule CA other than Section B line 8z.

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