California PTET 2026: deadline, rate, who can elect
California (CA), tax year 2026, from the same rules the connector returns. 2025 is below for comparison. Last verified October 24, 2026.
Informational. Not tax advice.
Elective PTET
Yes
SB 132 extends the elective tax and credit to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031. 2026 is inside that window.
Who can elect
A qualified entity taxed as a partnership or an S corporation.
The election is made on a timely filed original return by filing FTB 3804 and including the tax. It cannot be made on an amended return and is irrevocable for the year. A disregarded entity generally cannot receive the credit, with the Form 3804 exception for a disregarded single-member LLC owned by an individual, fiduciary, estate, or trust subject to the personal income tax. A publicly traded partnership exclusion was not verified.
How the election is made
The entity elects on its timely filed original return by filing FTB 3804 and paying the elective tax. The election binds all partners, shareholders, and members.
The election cannot be made on an amended return.
Election deadline
The timely filed original return. A June 15 prepayment is still required, but for 2026 through 2030 a missed or short payment does not by itself void the election.
Pay the greater of 50 percent of the prior-year elective tax or $1,000 by June 15. If that payment is missed or short, each qualified taxpayer's credit is reduced by 12.5 percent of that taxpayer's pro rata share of the unpaid June 15 amount. The Franchise Tax Board describes this as the rule in Revenue and Taxation Code sections 17052.11 and 19914.
Rate
9.3 percent of qualified net income.
The rate on the Franchise Tax Board elective-tax page is 9.3 percent. No 2026 rate change was stated there.
Owner relief
Credit, not an exclusion. The credit equals 9.3 percent of the owner's pro rata or distributive share and guaranteed payments of qualified net income, reduced if the June 15 prepayment was missed or short.
For 2026 through 2030 the reduction is 12.5 percent of the owner's pro rata share of the unpaid June 15 amount. Refundability and any carryforward were not verified and are not stated.
Estimates
By June 15 of the election year, pay the greater of 50 percent of the prior-year elective tax or $1,000. A shortfall reduces the credit. It does not, for 2026, cancel the election.
Use FTB 3893, Web Pay, or a payment kept separate from other taxes. Other quarterly dates were not stated on the pages reviewed.
Sunset or repeal
SB 132 continues the elective tax and credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031.
A later code-repeal date was not read in the statute and is not stated.
Still open in the source review
- Whether the pass-through entity elective-tax credit is refundable, or has a carryforward, was not verified.
- A publicly traded partnership exclusion was not verified and is not stated.
- No statutory repeal date later than the January 1, 2031 end of the SB 132 window was read.
- 2026 Forms 3885 and 3885A were not posted as a change. The dollar limits below are the amounts in the 2025 instructions, which remain the latest form instructions tied to the January 1, 2025 conformity date.
Sources for this year
2025
Last verified October 24, 2026.
Elective PTET
Yes
California has a pass-through entity elective tax for 2025. The Franchise Tax Board describes it as applying to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, under the law that preceded SB 132.
Who can elect
A qualified entity taxed as a partnership or an S corporation.
A disregarded entity generally cannot receive the credit. An exception in the 2025 Form 3804 instructions is a disregarded single-member LLC owned by an individual, fiduciary, estate, or trust subject to the personal income tax. A publicly traded partnership exclusion was not verified and is not stated.
How the election is made
The entity elects on a timely filed original return by filing FTB 3804 and including the tax. The election cannot be made on an amended return. It is irrevocable for the year and binds all partners, shareholders, and members.
The election is an entity election. Owners do not elect separately.
Election deadline
The timely filed original return, plus a June 15 prepayment of the greater of 50 percent of the prior-year elective tax or $1,000. For 2022 through 2025, missing that June 15 payment means there is no valid election.
Pay the June 15 amount with FTB 3893, Web Pay, or another payment kept separate from other taxes. The prepayment rule applies to years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. The 2026 through 2030 relief for a missed June 15 payment does not apply to 2025.
Rate
9.3 percent of qualified net income.
The elective tax rate stated by the Franchise Tax Board is 9.3 percent of qualified net income.
Owner relief
Credit, not an exclusion. The credit equals 9.3 percent of the owner's pro rata or distributive share and guaranteed payments of qualified net income.
The credit is against the personal income tax. Refundability and any carryforward period were not verified and are not stated.
Estimates
By June 15 of the election year, pay the greater of 50 percent of the prior-year elective tax or $1,000.
For 2025, failure to make that payment means the election is not valid. Other quarterly dates were not stated on the pages reviewed and are not added here.
Sunset or repeal
Under the pre-SB 132 statute, the elective tax and credit apply to taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026. SB 132 extends them for years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031.
2025 is inside the original window. A code repeal date after the January 1, 2031 end of the extension was not read in the statute and is not stated.
Still open in the source review
- Whether the pass-through entity elective-tax credit is refundable, or has a carryforward, was not verified.
- A publicly traded partnership exclusion was not verified and is not stated.
- No statutory repeal date later than the January 1, 2031 end of the SB 132 window was read.
Sources for this year
Bonus-depreciation conformity is on its own page.