Leaving California: residency, domicile and the part-year return

This Guide is for a person who lives in California and is moving to Texas, Florida, Nevada or another country, and for the adviser who helps them. It sets out the rules California's own regulations print about who is a resident, how domicile changes, when residence ends, which income California can still tax after the move, and which records decide an audit. Figures are for tax year 2026. The rules come from the LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, Regulations 17014, 17016, 17951-1 to 17951-6, 17952 and 17953, read on 3 October 2026, and from the LII mirror of the U.S. Code for the federal retirement-income rule.

This Guide states rules, not rates. The Franchise Tax Board website could not be read for this Guide, so it carries no California tax rate, bracket, dollar threshold, form line or due date. Confirm every such figure, the name of the part-year or nonresident return, and its due date on the Franchise Tax Board website yourself. For the federal side and for moves between other states, see us-multi-state-residency-and-allocation. For the full-year resident return, see ca-540-individual-return.

The method, step by step

1. Decide where the person is domiciled before and after the move, using the meaning of domicile in Regulation 17014(c) (Regulation 17014 on LII). Domicile changes only when the person abandons any intention of returning to California and locates elsewhere with the intention of remaining there indefinitely. Both parts must be true.
2. Decide whether the person is a resident in each part of the year under Regulation 17014(a) and (b) (Regulation 17014 on LII). A California domiciliary stays a resident while outside the state for a temporary or transitory purpose. Residence ends when the person leaves for other than a temporary or transitory purpose.
3. Count the days in California in the tax year and test the presumption in Regulation 17016 (Regulation 17016 on LII). The presumption arises only above its time limit, it can be rebutted, and staying below it proves nothing on its own.
4. Fix the date residence ended. Under Regulation 17014(a), a person who became a resident by being present for other than a temporary or transitory purpose "thereupon" ceases to be a resident when they leave for other than a temporary or transitory purpose. A person domiciled in California remains a resident unless they are outside California for other than temporary or transitory purposes. The facts of the whole year generally decide this, under Regulation 17014(e). (Regulation 17014 on LII)
5. For the time after that date, list every item of income and test it against the California-source rules in Regulations 17951-1 to 17951-6 and 17952 (Regulation 17951-2 on LII). Retirement income is tested under 4 U.S.C. 114 (LII mirror of the U.S. Code).
6. If the person is presumed a resident, or there is any question about their status, file a California return with a signed statement and evidence, as Regulation 17014(d)(2) advises (Regulation 17014 on LII).
7. Take rates, the part-year computation, the return form and due dates from the Franchise Tax Board website. This Guide does not carry them.

Who is a resident

Regulation 17014(a) says the term "resident" includes two groups. All other individuals are nonresidents.

• Every individual who is in California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose. This person is a resident even if domiciled somewhere else.
• Every individual who is domiciled in California and is outside California for a temporary or transitory purpose. This person stays a resident while away.

So a person can be a resident without being domiciled in California, and can be domiciled in California without being a resident. Regulation 17014(a) also says the purpose of the definition is to tax residents on their entire net income, wherever it comes from.

What ends residence, under Regulation 17014(a):

• A person who became a resident by being present for other than a temporary or transitory purpose stays a resident while temporarily absent. If they leave for other than a temporary or transitory purpose, they "thereupon" cease to be a resident.
• A person domiciled in California stays a resident unless they are outside California for other than temporary or transitory purposes.

What counts as temporary or transitory, under Regulation 17014(b): it depends largely on the facts of each case. The regulation gives these as temporary or transitory: passing through, a brief rest or vacation, completing a particular transaction, or performing a particular contract or engagement that needs presence for only a short period. It gives these as other than temporary or transitory: a long or indefinite stay to recover health, business that needs a long or indefinite period, a job that may last permanently or indefinitely, and retiring with no definite intention of leaving shortly after.

For a person leaving, read these in reverse, as the regulation's notes to Examples 1, 2 and 3 do. A Californian who goes to Texas for a job that may last indefinitely is outside California for other than a temporary purpose. A Californian who spends the winter in Florida as a visitor and keeps their life in California is outside for a temporary purpose and stays a resident.

Item	Rule	Note
Source	all figures below	https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17014
Resident, second group, 17014(a)	Domiciled in California and away only temporarily	"every individual who is domiciled in the State who is outside the State for a temporary or transitory purpose"
End of residence, 17014(a)	Resident by presence leaving for other than a temporary or transitory purpose	"he thereupon ceases to be a resident"
Domiciliary, 17014(a)	Stays a resident until the absence is not temporary	"he remains a resident unless he is outside of this State for other than temporary or transitory purposes"
One domicile, 17014(c)	A person has one domicile at a time	"An individual can at any one time have but one domicile"
Losing California domicile, 17014(c)	Both limbs needed	"loses his California domicile the moment he abandons any intention of returning to California and locates elsewhere with the intention of remaining there indefinitely"
Keeping California domicile, 17014(c)	Intention to return keeps it	"retains his California domicile as long as he has the definite intention of returning here regardless of the length of time"
Closest connection, 17014(b)	The theory behind the residence rules	"state with which a person has the closest connection during the taxable year is the state of his residence"
Six-month rule, 17014(b)	Applies only to a person domiciled outside California	"does not exceed an aggregate of six months within the taxable year"
Proof, 17014(d)(1)	Voting and returns elsewhere	"are otherwise of little value in determining one's residence"
Timing, 17014(e)	Status is a whole-year question	"it will not be possible, ordinarily, to determine his status until after the close of the year"

Domicile and residence are different tests

Regulation 17014(c) defines domicile as the place where a person has their true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which they intend to return whenever absent. A person has only one domicile at a time, and keeps it until they acquire another.

For a person leaving California:

• They keep their California domicile as long as they have the definite intention of returning, however long they are away and whatever the reason.
• They lose it the moment they abandon any intention of returning AND locate elsewhere with the intention of remaining there indefinitely. Abandoning the intention without settling somewhere is not enough. Settling somewhere while still intending to return is not enough.

Domicile and residence are separate. Under the note to Examples 1 and 2 in Regulation 17014(b), a person domiciled in California who is absent for other than temporary or transitory purposes is not a resident. So a person can stop being a resident before their domicile moves, for example a long work posting abroad, while still keeping California as their domicile. While California stays the domicile, any later absence that is only temporary leaves the person a resident (17014(a)).

The closest connection and the time tests

The closest connection. Regulation 17014(b) says the underlying theory of the residence rules is that the state with which a person has the closest connection during the taxable year is the state of residence. The regulation does not print a numbered list of factors. The facts its examples weigh are:

• where the person spends their time each year, and for how many months (Examples 1, 2 and 3);
• which homes they maintain and occupy, and whether a California house is rented out or left with a caretaker while they are away (Examples 1 and 3);
• where their bank accounts are (Example 2);
• their social, club and business connections, and where they keep business office space (Examples 2 and 3);
• where their relatives are (Example 3).

Example 2 is the Nevada case. Y declared a Nevada domicile to avoid California income tax, moved bank accounts to Nevada and spent about three or four months a year there. Y kept the California estate, spent six or seven months a year there, and kept social, club and business connections in California. The regulation says Y is a resident of California and taxable on his entire income. A declaration and a bank account move did not outweigh where Y lived.

The six-month rule in Regulation 17014(b). A person is treated as in California for temporary or transitory purposes if ALL of these hold:

• their presence in California does not exceed an aggregate of six months within the taxable year; AND
• they are domiciled outside California; AND
• they maintain a permanent abode at the place of their domicile; AND
• they do not engage in any activity or conduct in California other than that of a seasonal visitor, tourist or guest.

The regulation adds that a person can still be a seasonal visitor, tourist or guest while owning or maintaining a California abode, keeping a bank account here to pay personal expenses, or joining local social clubs. This rule helps a person who has already moved their domicile out and comes back to visit. It does not help a person who is still domiciled in California.

The nine-month presumption in Regulation 17016, quoted exactly: "If an individual spends in the aggregate more than nine months of any taxable year in this State it will be presumed that he is a resident of this State."

Item	Rule	Note
Source	all figures below	https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17016
Presumption, 17016	Arises only for MORE than nine months in the aggregate in one taxable year	"If an individual spends in the aggregate more than nine months of any taxable year in this State it will be presumed that he is a resident of this State."
Rebuttal, 17016	Not conclusive	"may be overcome by satisfactory evidence that he is in the State for temporary or transitory purposes only"
No safe harbour, 17016	Fewer months does not mean nonresident	"a person may be a resident even though not in the State during any portion of the year"

Read the presumption in both directions. More than nine months raises a presumption of residence that evidence can rebut. Nine months or less raises no presumption either way. Regulation 17016 says a person may be a resident even though not in California during any part of the year, which is the domiciliary who is away only temporarily.

Spouses

Regulations 17014 and 17016 print no separate rule for spouses who move at different times or live in different states. The only married couple in the regulation is Example 3, where the husband and wife are domiciled in Minnesota and the regulation weighs each spouse: "The connection of each to the state of domicile in each year is closer than it is to California." The facts: a family home in Minnesota, a California house used from November to mid March, clubs and social life in Minnesota, no relatives in California. Neither is a resident of California. The regulation's note says that if the facts are reversed, with California as the domicile, both are residents.

Where one spouse moves and the other stays, the regulation's tests apply to each person's own facts, but how California splits community or joint income between a resident and a nonresident spouse is not printed on any page this Guide could read. Refer that case.

The move date and the part-year year

Under Regulation 17014(a), a person who became a resident by being present in California "thereupon" ceases to be a resident when they leave for other than a temporary or transitory purpose. A person domiciled in California remains a resident unless they are outside California for other than temporary or transitory purposes; the regulation prints no separate date for them, so the departure date is this Guide's reading where the facts show the absence was not temporary from that day. Under Regulation 17014(e), status generally depends on conduct during the entire year and ordinarily cannot be settled until after the year closes. So a move in June is judged on what the person did during the entire year, including after the move.

In the year of the move, the person is a resident for part of the year and a nonresident for the rest. Regulation 17951-1(a) says nonresidents are taxable only on taxable income derived from sources within California, citing Revenue and Taxation Code section 17041, subdivision (b). The pages read for this Guide do not print how the tax for a part-year resident is computed, or which items accrued before the move are taxed after it. Take both from the Franchise Tax Board website or refer.

Income California still taxes after you leave

Regulation 17951-2 (Regulation 17951-2 on LII) lists income from sources within California:

• income from real or tangible personal property located in California;
• income from a business, trade or profession carried on in California;
• compensation for personal services performed in California;
• income from stocks, bonds, notes, bank deposits and other intangible personal property that has a business or taxable situs in California;
• rents or royalties for using patents, copyrights, goodwill, trademarks, franchises and similar property in California, where the property has a taxable or business situs here.

Each rule below applies to the person once they are a nonresident.

• California real estate. Under Regulation 17951-3 (Regulation 17951-3 on LII), rents from California property and gains from its sale are California-source "regardless of where the sale or transfer is consummated", whether or not a business is carried on here. Keeping a California house and renting it out leaves California-source rent.
• Wages. Under Regulation 17951-5 (Regulation 17951-5 on LII), a nonresident employee employed continuously in California for a definite portion of the year has California-source income that includes the total compensation for that period. Employees who work in California at intervals during the year and are paid on a daily, weekly or monthly basis apportion by working days; mileage-paid employees by miles; others by the part reasonably attributable to services performed in California (17951-5(b)). The regulation's source list names services performed in California. It does not list services performed outside California.
• Professionals. Under Regulation 17951-5(a)(3), nonresident attorneys, physicians, accountants, engineers and similar professionals include the entire fees for services performed in California for their clients, even if not regularly practising here.
• Partnerships. Under Regulation 17951-1(b) (Regulation 17951-1 on LII), a nonresident partner includes their distributive share of partnership income to the extent it is derived from California sources. Payments from the partnership for services or for the use of capital are also gross income of the nonresident.
• Shares, bonds and bank deposits. Under Regulation 17952(b) (Regulation 17952 on LII), income and gains from these are California-source only if the property has a situs for taxation in California. The exception: a nonresident who buys or sells these in California, or places orders with California brokers, so regularly, systematically and continuously as to be doing business here, is taxed on that profit as business income. Under 17952(c), intangible property has a business situs in California if it is employed as capital here or localized in a California business, for example shares pledged here as security for a California business debt.
• Installment sales. Regulation 17952(d) says the source of a gain on intangible property is fixed at the time of the sale. Its own example: if a California resident sells intangible property on the installment method and later becomes a nonresident, the gain on later installment payments is sourced to California, absent a business situs exception. Selling a business interest before the move and collecting after it does not take the gain out of California.
• Selling a business with a non-compete. Under Regulation 17951-6 (Regulation 17951-6 on LII), income from a covenant not to compete signed on the sale of a business carried on wholly or partly in California has a California source to the extent the regulation's apportionment formula assigns it here, using the factors of the business sold for the year of the sale, which the regulation requires "in all but unusual circumstances" (17951-6(a)(6)).
• Trusts and estates. Under Regulation 17953 (Regulation 17953 on LII), a nonresident beneficiary's income from intangible property of an estate or trust is not California-source unless the property acquires a business situs here under 17952(b) or (c), or, for royalties and similar property, the trust licenses its use in California. Whether the trustee is a California resident does not matter.
• Retirement income. Regulations 17951-2 and 17951-5 (and 17951-1(c) for trust and estate beneficiaries) say qualified retirement income, as defined in Revenue and Taxation Code section 17952.5, received by a nonresident is not California-source, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1996. The federal rule in 4 U.S.C. 114(a) (LII mirror of the U.S. Code) says: "No State may impose an income tax on any retirement income of an individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of such State (as determined under the laws of such State)". The federal rule therefore does not protect a person who is no longer a California resident but keeps a California domicile (see Domicile and residence). The state regulations exclude qualified retirement income received by a nonresident only as defined in Revenue and Taxation Code section 17952.5, which this Guide could not read; refer that case. Section 114(b)(1) lists the plans: qualified plan trusts, SEPs, 403(a) and 403(b) annuities, IRAs, eligible 457 plans, governmental plans and 501(c)(18) trusts. For nonqualified deferred compensation and retired-partner payments, the protection applies only if the payments are a series of substantially equal periodic payments, at least annually, over the recipient's life or life expectancy (or joint lives) or over a period of not less than 10 years, or are excess-benefit plan payments after employment ends. A lump sum from a nonqualified plan does not meet the periodic test; it is covered only if it is an excess-benefit plan payment received after termination of employment under 114(b)(1)(I)(ii).

Records that decide an audit

Regulation 17014(d)(1) says the proof needed cannot be specified by a general rule and depends on the case. What it does say:

• For a person who claims to be a nonresident because they are outside California for other than temporary or transitory purposes, "affidavits of friends and business associates as to the reasons for being outside the State should be submitted".
• Affidavits that the person votes in, or files income tax returns as a resident of, another state or country are relevant to domicile but "are otherwise of little value in determining one's residence".
• No weight is given to where charitable contributions are made.

Regulation 17014(d)(2) says that if a person is presumed to be a resident, or any question about their status exists, they should file a California return for that year to avoid the possibility of penalties, even if they believe they were a nonresident and had no California-source income. The return should report any California-source income, or state that there was none, and should come with a signed statement setting out in detail why the person believes they were a nonresident, plus any certificates, affidavits or other evidence. The person gets the chance to submit more evidence, in writing or at an oral hearing, before their status is finally decided.

Keep, for the whole year of the move and the years after it:

• a day-by-day calendar of where the person was, with travel records, because the nine-month presumption and the six-month rule both count aggregate time in a taxable year;
• the reason for the move and evidence that it is not temporary: a job offer, a lease or purchase, a business set up in the new place;
• what happened to the California home: sold, rented under a lease, or kept and used;
• where bank accounts, clubs, business office space and family are, before and after;
• names of friends, employers and business associates who can give affidavits on why the person is outside California.

Move checklist

1. Decide the intention first. Under 17014(c) domicile moves only when the intention to return is gone and the person has settled elsewhere to remain indefinitely. Write down when both became true.
2. Make the new place the main home. Example 2 shows that spending six or seven months a year in a kept California home outweighed a Nevada declaration and bank accounts.
3. Decide what to do with the California home. Keeping and using it is a California connection in Examples 1 and 2. Renting it to a tenant creates California-source rent under 17951-3.
4. Move the connections the examples weigh: bank accounts, clubs, business office space.
5. Plan visits back. After the domicile moves, the six-month rule in 17014(b) treats a visit as temporary if all four of its conditions hold, including keeping a permanent abode at the new domicile and acting only as a visitor, tourist or guest. If any one fails, the rule does not apply and the visit is judged on the general temporary-or-transitory facts in 17014(b).
6. Time sales. Under 17952(d) a sale before the move fixes the source in California for later installments. Under 17951-3, California real estate stays California-source whenever it is sold.
7. Keep the calendar and evidence listed under the records section, and file with a signed statement if status is in any doubt, per 17014(d)(2).

Worked hypothetical

Hypothetical facts. Dana has lived and worked in San Jose for twelve years and is domiciled in California. In 2026 she accepts a permanent job in Austin, Texas. She sells her shares in a California startup in March 2026 on the installment method, with payments due in 2027 and 2028. She leaves California on 31 May 2026, buys a house in Austin, moves her bank accounts and resigns from her San Jose club. She keeps her San Jose condo and rents it to a tenant on a twelve-month lease. She sells listed shares held at a broker in Texas in August. She returns to California for three weeks in December to see family, staying with her parents and doing nothing but visiting.

Working:

1. Domicile (17014(c)). Before 31 May she intends to return to California; it is her domicile. When she moves to Austin for a permanent job with no intention of returning, both limbs are met and her California domicile is lost from that point, if her conduct for the rest of the year confirms it (17014(e)).
2. Residence (17014(a)). Until 31 May she is a resident. Regulation 17014(a) describes residents as taxable on their entire net income; how that applies to the resident part of a part-year is not printed on the pages read here (see The move date and the part-year year). She is domiciled in California and leaves for other than a temporary or transitory purpose, so from then on she is no longer a resident (17014(a), domiciliary limb).
3. Presumption (17016). She spent about five months of 2026 in California, plus three weeks in December. That is not more than nine months, so no presumption arises. This does not prove she is a nonresident; the facts in steps 1 and 2 do.
4. December visit (17014(b)). By December she is domiciled in Texas, keeps a permanent abode there, her aggregate presence in 2026 does not exceed six months, and she acts only as a visitor. All four conditions hold, so the visit is for a temporary or transitory purpose.
5. Income after the move. The condo rent from June is California-source (17951-3). The installment gains on the startup shares stay California-source in 2027 and 2028 because she sold while a resident (17952(d)). The August sale of listed shares is not California-source unless the shares had a business situs in California (17952(b) and (c)); nothing in the facts suggests one. Her Texas wages for work done in Texas are not on the California-source list in 17951-2.
6. Filing. Because her status changed in the year, she should expect to file a California part-year return and keep the records listed above. Take the form, rates and computation from the Franchise Tax Board website.

What would change the answer: if she kept using the San Jose condo for months at a time, kept her club and office here, or her Austin job was a fixed short assignment, Examples 2 and 1 point toward continued residence. If her employer pays a bonus after 31 May for work done before it, the pages read here do not say how California sources it; refer. If she had left at the end of June, her presence in California in 2026 with the December visit would exceed an aggregate of six months, so the six-month rule would not apply; the visit would be judged on the general facts in 17014(b).

Moving abroad

The notes to Examples 1 to 3 in Regulation 17014(b) apply the same tests where "the other states or countries are those in which the person is present". Example 1 is a Quebec domiciliary, and its note applies the rules in reverse to a Californian abroad. A posting abroad that may last indefinitely is an absence for other than a temporary purpose. A posting with a definite plan to return keeps the California domicile, and a domiciliary who is away only temporarily stays a resident (17014(a)). Federal tax does not end with the move for a US citizen: see us-citizen-moving-abroad-tax. For a person who is not a US citizen, see us-tax-residency for the federal residency tests. For a move to Florida and the Florida side of the domicile change, see fl-moving-to-florida-domicile.

Ask the client first

• When did you decide not to come back to California, and when did you settle in the new place with the plan to stay there indefinitely? (17014(c) needs both.)
• How many days were you in California in this tax year, and how many in each year after the move? Do you have a calendar or travel records? (17016 and the six-month rule in 17014(b).)
• What happened to your California home: sold, rented to a tenant, or kept for your own use? (Examples 1 to 3, and 17951-3.)
• Did you sell anything before the move with payments after it, or sell a business with a non-compete? (17952(d), 17951-6.)
• Will you receive any pay after the move for work done before it: bonuses, stock options, restricted stock, deferred compensation, severance? (Not settled by the pages read here; see refer.)
• Is your spouse moving at the same time, and do you have community property? (Not settled by the pages read here.)

When to refuse or refer

• Refer any equity compensation (stock options, restricted stock units), deferred bonus or severance that relates to work before the move and is paid after it. The pages read here do not print how California sources or accrues it.
• Refer spouses who move at different times, or one spouse who stays in California. No page read here prints the split.
• Refer any case where the person kept a California home in regular use, kept California business activity, or spends long periods in California after the move. That is the pattern in Example 2, and the outcome turns on facts an adviser must test.
• Refer an FTB residency inquiry or audit already open, and any case needing a statute-of-limitations answer.
• Refer a move abroad under an employment contract. Regulation 17014 applies the term resident "as defined in the law" (Revenue and Taxation Code section 17014), and that statute could not be read for this Guide.
• Refuse to state California tax rates, brackets, surtaxes, filing thresholds or due dates from this Guide. It does not carry them; take them from the Franchise Tax Board website.
• Refuse to say that a declaration of domicile or voter registration alone ends California residence. Regulation 17014(d)(1) gives voting and out-of-state returns little value on residence, and Example 2 shows a declaration failing.
• Refer retirement income received by a person who is no longer a California resident but keeps a California domicile. 4 U.S.C. 114(a) does not protect a domiciliary, and the state exclusion depends on Revenue and Taxation Code section 17952.5, which could not be read.

Sources

• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17014, Who Are Residents and Nonresidents: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17014
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17016, Presumption of Residence: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17016
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17951-1: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17951-1
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17951-2: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17951-2
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17951-3: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17951-3
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17951-5, Wages, Salaries and Other Compensation for Personal Services Performed in this State: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17951-5
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17951-6, Income from a Covenant Not to Compete: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17951-6
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17952: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17952
• LII mirror of the California Code of Regulations, Title 18, § 17953, Nonresident Beneficiaries: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/18-CCR-17953
• LII mirror of the U.S. Code, 4 U.S.C. 114, Limitation on State income taxation of certain pension income: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/4/114

This Guide is general information and not tax or legal advice. Residency turns on facts; confirm every California figure on the Franchise Tax Board website and have a qualified adviser review the facts before relying on it.