Form 592-B: California Resident and Nonresident Withholding Tax Statement Explained

Form 592-B is issued by the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to report state income tax withheld from payments made to residents and nonresidents. Think of it as California’s version of a withholding statement similar to a federal 1099 or W-2, except it specifically documents the amount withheld and remitted to the state on behalf of the person or business receiving the payment.

If you’re a payee who had California tax withheld on income such as rents, royalties, trust distributions, partnership income, or payments for services performed in the state, you should receive a Form 592-B from the entity that withheld the tax. That entity, often called the withholding agent, could be a business, a partnership, a real estate escrow company, or another payer required to withhold under California law.

Who Needs This Form

Two groups interact with Form 592-B: withholding agents and payees.

Withholding agents are businesses or individuals who make payments to California residents or nonresidents and are required to withhold state income tax on those payments. This commonly applies to:

• Payments to nonresident independent contractors for services performed in California
• Distributions from California partnerships, LLCs, or S corporations to nonresident partners, members, or shareholders
• Rents and royalties paid to nonresidents
• Certain trust and estate distributions

Payees are the individuals or entities who received the payment and had tax withheld. They use Form 592-B to claim credit for the withheld amount when filing their California income tax return, whether that’s Form 540 for residents or Form 540NR for nonresidents and part-year residents.

When Form 592-B Is Used

Withholding agents must furnish Form 592-B to each payee by January 31 following the close of the calendar year in which the withholding occurred. This gives payees enough time to include the withholding information when preparing their state tax returns during filing season.

The form itself doesn’t get filed with the FTB by the payee. Instead, the payee keeps it as documentation and attaches the relevant withholding amount to their California tax return to claim credit for the tax already paid on their behalf. The withholding agent, on the other hand, is responsible for submitting withholding summary information to the FTB separately, typically through Form 592 or Form 592-PTE depending on the type of payee.

Because Form 592-B substantiates tax already paid to California, it reduces the payee’s overall tax liability at filing time and can even generate a refund if the withheld amount exceeds what’s owed. This makes it a useful counterpart to Form 540 for residents reporting their full-year income or to Form 540NR for nonresidents and part-year filers.

How to Get and Complete Form 592-B

The 2024 version of Form 592-B is available directly from the Franchise Tax Board’s website as a fillable PDF. Because it includes AcroForm fields, you can type information directly into the document using Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar PDF software rather than printing and completing it by hand.

Withholding agents preparing the form will need the payee’s name, address, and taxpayer identification number, along with the total amount of California income subject to withholding and the amount actually withheld during the year. The form also asks for the type of income being reported, since different withholding rules apply depending on whether the payment relates to real estate, business income, or another category.

Payees receiving Form 592-B should review it carefully against their own records to confirm the withholding amount matches what they expected. Any discrepancy should be addressed with the withholding agent before filing season, since correcting errors afterward can delay processing of a state return or refund.

For businesses managing multiple contractors or partners subject to withholding, it may also help to review related guidance on Form 592-PTE, which covers pass-through entity withholding requirements tied to the same underlying rules that generate Form 592-B statements for individual payees.