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The city and the FTB run independent systems. A clean state return tells San Francisco nothing, and the penalty for missing the Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax accrues on its own track with no prompt from Sacramento.
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Equity becomes income and California takes it at ordinary rates, with a further 1% above one million.
What applies →
The SDI wage cap is gone. Every dollar of salary, bonus and RSU income now carries it.
What applies →
The FTB follows the income, not the address. What vested here stays taxable here.
What applies →
Gross receipts, the homelessness surcharge and registration renewal are three separate filings.
What applies →
Likely subject to California franchise tax. Payroll location drives your city apportionment.
What applies →
Back returns, amendments and penalty relief, handled together in one engagement.
What applies →
On taxable income above $1,000,000, on top of the standard rate.
Franchise Tax Board
Its own threshold and its own calculation. Not a line inside the main return.
SF Treasurer
Removed in 2024. Applies to every dollar of salary, bonus and RSU income.
EDD
Payroll-based for specific activity categories, so where employees work changes what the city taxes.
SF Treasurer
RSUs that vested while you lived in California stay taxable here after you move. California’s Behavioral Health Services Tax adds 1% on taxable income above one million dollars, on top of the standard rate.
Each year the taxes have gotten more and more complicated and I have never had any issues with the work Dimov has done for me.
Chris · San Francisco client, four years
CITY
Business registration renewal
Every registered business
Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax
Separate threshold, separate return
Gross Receipts Tax, first instalment
Businesses above the threshold
Gross Receipts Tax, second instalment
Businesses above the threshold
STATE
Partnership and S corporation returns
Calendar-year entities
Personal income tax return
Individuals and pass-through owners
Q1 estimated payment
Then June, September, January
Franchise tax, minimum
Including foreign entities registered here
Yes, some or all of them
No, everyone is outside the city
Not sure how it is counted
WHAT THAT MEANS
If any payroll sits inside the city, gross receipts apportionment applies and registration renewal is due annually, whether or not you have a California address.
1040Federal individual
540California resident
540NRPart-year and nonresident
3510Credit for other-state tax
3921ISO exercise reporting
1120-SS corporation
1065Partnership
100California franchise tax
GRTSF gross receipts
HGRHomelessness surcharge
8949Capital gains and losses
FinCEN 114Foreign accounts
8938Specified foreign assets
1040XAmended returns
2848Audit representation
NO CHARGE
Lay out the problem. We tell you what applies, what it will take, and whether you need us at all.
IN WRITING
Scope and price agreed up front. No hourly billing and no surprises at the end.
YEAR ROUND
Every return reviewed with you before submission, then filed against the right agency on the right calendar.
Ranges, not quotes. The number we agree before starting is the number you pay.
STRAIGHTFORWARD
W-2 income, standard deductions, a modest amount of investment activity.
MOST COMMON HERE
RSUs, ISO exercises, a move year, or income sourced across more than one state.
BUSINESS
Pass-through entities, gross receipts, payroll apportionment and year-round planning.
Filing federal only. No California registration, no city apportionment on record, and no prompt from any agency.
OUTCOME
Registered with the FTB, mapped payroll by work location, city returns filed before penalties compounded.
Planned for federal capital gains only. California taxes the gain at ordinary rates and adds 1% above one million.
OUTCOME
Liability modelled before close and built into estimated payments rather than discovered in April.
Moved out of state mid-vest and assumed the California exposure ended with the move.
OUTCOME
Split calculated on grant date, vest date and California workdays, documented for every future year.
C.P.A. · President
EA, CPA · Senior Tax Accountant
CPA · Senior Tax Manager
MBA, EA · Senior Tax Manager
Apportionment by business activity category controls the outcome, not a flat percentage. For many categories, an accountant in San Francisco will map city payroll first, since that determines what share of total revenue falls within city taxing reach. Precise apportionment starts with organized books.
Yes. The FTB sources RSU income based on where services were performed during the vesting period, not your address at settlement. If you lived in California for any part of the vesting period, a portion stays taxable here. The split depends on grant date, vest date, and California workdays.
Yes, it is a separate city calculation with its own threshold, not a line inside the standard return. Missing it means a penalty running on a separate city track, with no prompt from Sacramento. Thresholds vary by taxpayer category and should be confirmed for the current year.
California taxes capital gains at ordinary income rates, so no lower rate applies regardless of how long you held the shares. If the gain pushes taxable income above $1,000,000, the Behavioral Health Services Tax adds 1% on top. Part-year and former residents may still owe California tax on a portion of the gain.
A Delaware company with San Francisco employees is likely subject to California franchise tax and may need to register with the FTB as a foreign entity. Business registration renewal is a separate annual obligation.
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