California Form 3800, Tax Computation for Certain Children with Unearned Income, is used to calculate tax on certain investment or other unearned income earned by a child. In some situations, a child's unearned income is taxed using the parent's tax rate rather than the child's rate.
Who Must File Form 3800?
Generally, Form 3800 is required when all of the following apply:
- The child is age 18 or younger, or a full-time student under age 24 at the end of the tax year.
- The child has more than $2,700 of California-taxable unearned income.
- At least one parent was alive at the end of the tax year.
- The child does not file a joint return.
- Additional age and support requirements are met for children age 18 or older.
Unearned income can include items such as:
- Taxable interest
- Dividends
- Capital gains
- Rental income
- Royalties
- Taxable Social Security benefits
- Pension and annuity income
- Unemployment compensation
- Income received as a beneficiary
Program Pathway
- Select State from the sidebar menu
- Edit California return (click the 3 dots)
- Additional Taxes
- Tax Computation for Certain Children with Investment Income (CA Form 3800)
Additional Information
Parents may be able to elect to report a child's interest and dividend income on their own return using California Form 3803, Parents' Election to Report Child's Interest and Dividends, if eligibility requirements are met. When this election is made, the child generally does not need to file California Form 3800.
For California purposes, the calculation on Form 3800 is based on the child's California-taxable unearned income and may differ from the federal calculation if California adjustments apply.
You can review the CA Form 3800 instructions for further reference here.