How to Complete and File California Form 592-F: Rates, Deadlines, and SWIFT Filing

California Form 592-F is the annual return a partnership, LLC, estate, or trust files with the Franchise Tax Board to report and reconcile tax withheld on California source income allocated or distributed to foreign (non-U.S.) partners or members. For calendar-year entities, it is due March 15, the 15th day of the third month after the close of the taxable year, and it ties together the quarterly payments the entity sent in on Form 592-A during the year.¹

Who Has to File

Any domestic pass-through entity that allocates or distributes California source income to a foreign partner or member must file Form 592-F. “Foreign” tracks the federal definition: non-resident alien individuals, foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, and foreign trusts all qualify.¹ The income that triggers withholding is broad: business profits, rental income, gains from the sale of California property, and compensation for services performed in California.

The withholding agent is the entity itself, not the individual partner. That matters because R&TC Section 18668 makes the agent personally liable if it fails to withhold, for the greater of what should have been withheld or the tax the partner actually owes California, plus interest from the original due date.² The authority sits in R&TC Section 18662.³

What Rate to Withhold

Form 592-F does not use the 7 percent flat rate that applies to general nonresident withholding on Form 592. The agent applies the maximum California tax rate for the partner’s entity type:⁴

12.30 percent for non-corporate partners (individuals, trusts, estates)
8.84 percent for corporate partners
10.84 percent for banks and financial institutions

Multiply the foreign partner’s share of California source taxable income by the applicable rate. Backup withholding, reported separately on the same form, uses the 7 percent rate and applies when a payee fails to provide a valid taxpayer identification number.⁵

One trap: California does not honor federal income tax treaties with foreign nations. A foreign partner who claims a treaty exemption on their federal return still owes California tax on California source income, and the agent still withholds at the full rate.⁶

Completing the Form

The return has three working parts: Part I for the withholding agent, the Schedule of Payees on Side 2 for each foreign partner, and Part III for the tax computation.

Part I: Withholding Agent Information

Enter the entity’s legal name, business name if different, mailing address, and taxpayer identification number (usually the FEIN). If your entity was itself withheld upon by another entity because it is a foreign partner there, and you are passing the credit through to your own partners, use your entity’s name and TIN in Part I, not the upstream entity’s.⁴

Two checkboxes near the top matter. Check “All members and partners foreign” if every partner is a non-U.S. person; this extends both the filing deadline and the Form 592-B delivery deadline. Check “Federal Extension” if you filed federal Form 8804 for an extension. Neither checkbox pushes back the payment deadline. The balance due is still owed by the original date.¹

Schedule of Payees (Side 2)

Each foreign partner gets a separate entry. For entity partners, use the business name and FEIN; for individuals, use the name and SSN or ITIN. Not both. Include the partner’s full address. For foreign addresses, follow the country’s format for city, province, country, and postal code, and spell out the country name without abbreviations.¹

Enter total California source income subject to withholding and the tax withheld for each payee. Skip payees with zero withholding unless you are amending to remove someone reported in error. If you have more partners than fit on Side 2, use additional copies of the Side 2 page with the withholding agent’s name and TIN at the top of every extra sheet. The FTB does not accept custom-formatted schedules.

Grantor trusts need special handling: enter the individual grantor’s name and TIN, not the trust’s name or trustee information, because the grantor is the one reporting the income and claiming the credit. For nongrantor trusts, use the trust’s name and FEIN. Group returns prefix the business name with “PTSP” for partnerships and LLCs or “SGNF” for corporations.

Part III: Tax Withheld

Part III reconciles total withholding against what has already been paid or credited:¹

Line 1: Total withholding (excluding backup withholding) from all Schedule of Payees pages.
Line 2: Total backup withholding from all Schedule of Payees pages.
Line 4: Withholding passed through from another entity to your foreign partners. If part of that credit offsets your own entity’s tax, exclude that portion here and attach a note explaining the split.
Line 5: Total quarterly payments made during the year on Form 592-A.
Line 6: Any foreign partner credit carried over from the prior year.
Line 8: If Line 3 exceeds Line 7, the difference is the balance due. Pay it using the Supplemental Payment Voucher from Form 592-A, submitted with Form 592-F.

Quarterly Payments on Form 592-A

Withholding is not held until March. It is remitted quarterly during the year on Form 592-A, the Payment Voucher for Foreign Partner or Member Withholding. Form 592-F reconciles those payments at year-end. Calendar-year payment periods and due dates:⁷

January 1 through March 31: due April 15
April 1 through May 31: due June 15
June 1 through August 31: due September 15
September 1 through December 31: due January 15 of the following year

Fiscal-year filers follow the same pattern on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of their taxable year. Form 592-A also carries a fifth voucher, the Supplemental Payment Voucher, used only when Line 8 of Form 592-F shows a balance due. That supplemental payment goes in with the annual return by the original filing deadline even if the entity has an extension.¹

Deadlines and Extensions

The annual return is due on the 15th day of the third month after the close of the entity’s taxable year. For calendar-year filers, that is March 15. If every partner or member is foreign, the deadline shifts to the 15th day of the sixth month, which is September 15 for calendar-year filers.¹

A federal extension on Form 8804 carries over; check the “Federal Extension” box on Form 592-F. The extension covers paperwork only. Any balance due must reach the FTB by the original due date, or interest starts accruing at the adjusted annual rate under R&TC Section 19521.

Beyond interest, the FTB adds a late-payment penalty of 5 percent of the unpaid tax, plus 0.5 percent for each additional month or partial month unpaid, up to 40 months. The combined penalty cannot exceed 25 percent of the total unpaid tax.²

Where and How to Submit

The FTB accepts Form 592-F by mail, through the SWIFT electronic transfer system, or through MyFTB for Withholding Agents.

By Mail

Send the completed Form 592-F, the Supplemental Payment Voucher from Form 592-A if there is a balance due, and a check or money order to:¹

Withholding Services and Compliance MS F182
Franchise Tax Board
PO Box 942867
Sacramento, CA 94267-0651

Tracked delivery gives you proof of the mailing date if a deadline dispute comes up later.

Electronically via SWIFT

Secure Web Internet File Transfer (SWIFT) lets agents upload Form 592-F data as a CSV file containing the withholding agent details and all payee information. Name the file with the withholding agent’s name (for example, “abcpartnership.csv”). Formatting requirements are in FTB Publication 1023S.⁸ If you file through SWIFT, do not also mail a paper form. Payment is submitted separately after the FTB accepts the file; the FTB prefers Electronic Funds Transfer, though you can mail a check with the Form 592-A voucher. Amended returns cannot go through SWIFT and must follow the paper instructions in the Form 592-F booklet. MyFTB for Withholding Agents lets agents both file and pay in one portal.

Form 592-B to Each Foreign Partner

Filing with the FTB is only half the obligation. The agent must furnish each foreign partner with Form 592-B, the Resident and Nonresident Withholding Tax Statement, so the partner can claim credit on their California return.⁹ A separate 592-B goes to every payee on the Schedule of Payees, showing the payee’s TIN, total California source income subject to withholding, and total tax withheld. Delivery is due by the same deadline as Form 592-F: the 15th day of the third month after year-end, or the sixth month if all partners are foreign.

The FTB also requires the agent to notify foreign payees within 10 days of any tax being withheld. No specific form is mandated for that notice, but many agents use Form 592-B.⁶

Requesting Reduced Withholding

A foreign partner who expects actual California tax liability to come in below the maximum rate can request a reduction using Electronic Form 589, Nonresident Reduced Withholding Request, filed directly with the FTB. Foreign partners cannot use Form 588; that waiver form is limited to domestic nonresidents.¹⁰

The partner itemizes deductible expenses against the California source income on Electronic Form 589 and supplies identification numbers, dates of services, and the withholding agent’s information. Rents and royalties need a separate Electronic Form 589 for each property. Supporting documentation (such as federal Form 8804-C, Schedule E, or expense breakdowns) is faxed to the FTB at 916-855-5743 with the Electronic Form 589 confirmation number on the cover sheet.¹¹

The FTB processes requests in roughly 10 business days, or 21 business days when a signed federal Form 8804-C is included. If approved, both the agent and the partner receive a letter stating the reduced amount. If denied, the full rate stays in effect.

What Noncompliance Costs the Agent

Under R&TC Section 18668, an agent that fails to withhold becomes personally liable for the greater of what should have been withheld or the full California tax the foreign partner owes, up to the amount required to be withheld. Interest runs from the original due date at the adjusted annual rate.²

Reasonable cause is the only safe harbor, and ignorance of the requirement rarely qualifies. Amounts withheld are a special trust fund held for the State of California. Commingling them with operating funds or using them for other business purposes creates additional exposure, so the clean practice is holding withheld amounts in a separate account until remittance.

1
Franchise Tax Board. 2026 Instructions for Form 592-F Foreign Partner or Member Annual Withholding Return
2
Franchise Tax Board. FTB 1024 – Penalty Reference Chart
3
California Legislative Information. California Code RTC 18662 – Withholding
4
Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 592-F Foreign Partner or Member Annual Withholding Return
5
Franchise Tax Board. Backup Withholding
6
Franchise Tax Board. Instructions for Form 592-F Foreign Partner or Member Annual Withholding Return
7
Franchise Tax Board. Pass-Through Entity Withholding
8
Franchise Tax Board. Secure Web Internet File Transfer (SWIFT) Guide for Resident, Nonresident, and Real Estate Withholding
9
Franchise Tax Board. Form 592-B Resident and Nonresident Withholding Tax Statement
10
Franchise Tax Board. 2026 Instructions for Form 588 Nonresident Withholding Waiver Request
11
Franchise Tax Board. Nonresident Reduced Withholding Request