Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: California’s income tax rates run from 1.00% to 12.30%. The newest Franchise Tax Board rate schedule we could read on October 2, 2026 is the one for tax year 2025, so this page shows those thresholds and does not state 2026 thresholds. Check the Franchise Tax Board’s site for the 2026 schedule when it appears.
California Form 540, line by line: California Form 540 line 7, California Form 540 line 31 and California Form 540 line 46.
What is published and what is not
The latest document read is titled “2025 California Tax Rate Schedules”. It is the tax year 2025 schedule, and it is the newest rate schedule this page could read. It does not state 2026 thresholds, and this page will not estimate them. The rates in the table below are the schedule’s; whether 2026 thresholds differ is a question for the 2026 schedule.
The 2025 schedule: single and married filing separately (Schedule X)
| Rate | Taxable income | Tax at the start of the range |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00% | Up to $11,079 | $0.00 |
| 2.00% | Over $11,079 up to $26,264 | $110.79 |
| 4.00% | Over $26,264 up to $41,452 | $414.49 |
| 6.00% | Over $41,452 up to $57,542 | $1,022.01 |
| 8.00% | Over $57,542 up to $72,724 | $1,987.41 |
| 9.30% | Over $72,724 up to $371,479 | $3,201.97 |
| 10.30% | Over $371,479 up to $445,771 | $30,986.19 |
| 11.30% | Over $445,771 up to $742,953 | $38,638.27 |
| 12.30% | Over $742,953 | $72,219.84 |
The schedule says to use it “if your filing status is Single or Married/RDP Filing Separately”. It is for taxable income over $100,000: the document says that if the amount is $100,000 or less you use the Tax Table. The tax at the start of each range recomputes from the range before it, as this page checked.
The 2025 schedule: married filing jointly (Schedule Y)
| Rate | Taxable income | Tax at the start of the range |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00% | Up to $22,158 | $0.00 |
| 2.00% | Over $22,158 up to $52,528 | $221.58 |
| 4.00% | Over $52,528 up to $82,904 | $828.98 |
| 6.00% | Over $82,904 up to $115,084 | $2,044.02 |
| 8.00% | Over $115,084 up to $145,448 | $3,974.82 |
| 9.30% | Over $145,448 up to $742,958 | $6,403.94 |
| 10.30% | Over $742,958 up to $891,542 | $61,972.37 |
| 11.30% | Over $891,542 up to $1,485,906 | $77,276.52 |
| 12.30% | Over $1,485,906 | $144,439.65 |
Schedule Y is for “Married/RDP Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse/RDP”. Head of household has its own Schedule Z in the same document, not reproduced here. None of these schedules includes the separate 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax on taxable income over $1,000,000 (named the Mental Health Services Tax before 2025), which the Franchise Tax Board’s 2025 Form 540 booklet has filers compute on line 62.
A worked example with the 2025 schedule
As a computed example (an illustration, not a source figure), take a single filer with $150,000 of California taxable income under the 2025 schedule. That falls in the 9.30% range that starts at $72,724 with $3,201.97 of tax, so the tax is $10,388.64 (computed). The result is for the 2025 schedule only, not a 2026 estimate.
Common mistakes
- Presenting the 2025 thresholds as the 2026 brackets. They are the latest published table, not the 2026 one.
- Using Schedule X for a joint return. Joint filers use Schedule Y.
- Applying the Tax Table range to income above $100,000. The schedules are for incomes above that amount.
- Applying a single rate to all income. Each rate applies only to the part of income in its range.
Related: how California taxes retirement income, whether California taxes pensions, whether California taxes Social Security, and the federal 2026 tax brackets.
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Sources
- California Franchise Tax Board, 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules (Personal Income Tax Booklet 2025): https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2025/2025-540-tax-rate-schedules.pdf
- California Franchise Tax Board, 2025 Form 540 booklet (the source for the 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax only, line 62; read October 16, 2026): https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2025/2025-540-booklet.pdf
- California Franchise Tax Board, forms and publications (where later updates appear; no figure on this page comes from it): https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/index.html
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 2, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.