California Taxes/Cal File
Has anyone tried mailing their state tax return from the Philippines to California?
A bit of a background, my Aunt (dual) and Uncle (PR) retired in the Philippines since 2019 but they have maintained a US address (Uncle’s daughter) and a US bank. They are also still registered in California and while they have California driver’s licenses, they’re expired. They have not been back to California since residing here in 2019. Sadly, my Uncle passed away last year.
I’ve been trying to help my Aunt in filing their federal and state tax returns. It’s her first time to file on her own since my Uncle used to file them. Just this week, we’ve successfully filed their 1040 via free file but have a bit of trouble filing their state tax return.
My Uncle used Cal File for the 2024 return and so we tried that route for 2025. Unfortunately, Cal File will not accept their return because of the mandatory health coverage. My Uncle was already 72 when he passed away and had full coverage but my Aunt had none. Upon further research, I found that they are exempt because their household income (SS and IRA monthly distributions) is below the threshold for “married filing jointly”. They don’t owe any ISR penalty. I read that we shouldn’t tick the health coverage section if their household didn’t actually have full coverage for the taxable year and that my Aunt has to attach FTB 3853. The problem is, not checking that section on Cal File will automatically disqualify my Aunt from using the platform. There is also no way to attach FTB 3853. We already sent a message to FTB but have yet to hear from them.
We’ve been trying to search for other online platforms that would allow her to file just the state tax returns (since federal has been filed and accepted by IRS) but it seems there is none. Also, I read that since she is overseas, she has 6 months automatic extension to file. They don’t owe any state tax so that’s a relief. I guess the last resort is to file it by mail, either by USPS or by FedEx. Just not sure how safe this will be and if she should just switch to using 540NR instead of 540.
Any helpful feedback would be greatly appreciated.