CA Reports on Median Income for 2009

The California statewide median income for all personal income tax returns decreased to $34,079 (5.1 percent below 2008), while the median income listed on joint returns decreased to $65,025 (5.7 percent below 2008) according to state statistics. The four Bay Area counties of Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, and Santa Clara have led California for 38 years in reported highest median incomes. California taxpayers filed 15.3 million 2009 state income tax returns reporting $1.08 trillion in adjusted gross income, a 2.9 percent decrease from 2008 figures. Adjusted gross income is total income increased or reduced by specific adjustments, before taking the standard or itemized deduction. Marin County had the highest median income for joint returns at $108,465, a decrease of 8.6 percent from 2008. San Mateo County ranked second with $95,176, Santa Clara County ranked third with $94,209, Contra Costa County ranked fourth with $85,942, and Alameda County ranked fifth with $83,886. Los Angeles County taxpayers filed 25.5 percent of all 2009 income tax returns in California. They reported median incomes of $30,112 for all returns, and $56,438 for joint returns, ranking 34th and 27th, respectively for all counties. The largest percentage gain in median income for all counties was 7.5 percent, reported in Alpine County.

California Payroll Tax Reporting Changes

The quarterly payroll tax forms filed with the Employment Development Department are changing effective with the filing of your first quarter 2011 forms. The new forms to be aware of are the DE 9 and DE 9C. These two forms replace the quarterly form DE 6 and the annual form DE 7. Each quarter employers will prepare a reconciliation similar to what was done on the year end reconciliation. The state believes that this new quarterly reporting will allow the EDD and employers to recognize discrepencies more quickly. This will help you receive refunds faster but will also help the EDD find shortages sooner. If you prepare your own payroll in house you may want to check with your accounting software provider to ensure that your system can handle the forms. For those of you using Quickbooks, it appears that your software will be updated if you are current on your support contract. As a reminder your first quarter returns are due on April 30th.