Correction to Individual Shared Responsibility Child Dependent Penalty Amount

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Published March 6th, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

The California Franchise Tax Board issued a correction to the Individual Shared Responsibility penalty amount for dependent children, raising it from $450 to $475 per child due to a rounding error in 2025 indexing. Updated penalty information has been posted to the personal health care mandate webpage, tax professionals webpage, and the individual shared responsibility penalty estimator.

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What changed

The California Franchise Tax Board corrected a rounding error in its 2025 indexing for the Individual Shared Responsibility penalty amount applicable to dependent children under the state's personal health care mandate. The penalty per dependent child was incorrectly stated as $450 and has been revised to $475. FTB updated the personal health care mandate webpage, tax professionals webpage, and the individual shared responsibility penalty estimator to reflect the correct amount. The FTB 3853 Instructions are under revision with completion expected by the following week.

No new compliance obligations are imposed by this correction. California residents and their dependents who fail to maintain qualifying health care coverage remain subject to the corrected penalty of $475 per dependent child. Entities should ensure they reference the corrected penalty amount when advising clients or calculating potential penalties for the 2025 tax year.

What to do next

Verify use of the corrected $475 per child penalty amount for Individual Shared Responsibility calculations
Update any internal references or client materials that may still show the erroneous $450 amount
Monitor for the revised FTB 3853 Instructions expected by mid-March 2026

Penalties

$475 per dependent child (corrected from $450)

Source document (simplified)

Correction to Individual Shared Responsibility Child Dependent Penalty Amount Tax News Flash

March 6, 2026

California law requires residents and their dependents to obtain and maintain minimum essential coverage, also referred to as qualifying health care coverage. Individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health care coverage for any month during the taxable year will be subject to an Individual Shared Responsibility penalty unless they qualify for an exemption.

FTB’s most recent 2025 indexing contained a rounding error for the Individual Shared Responsibility penalty amount for dependent children. The corrected penalty amount per dependent child is $475 (revised from the previously stated $450). The personal health care mandate webpage, the tax professionals health care mandate webpage, and the individual shared responsibility penalty estimator have been updated to reflect the correct penalty amount. The FTB 3853 Instructions are currently under revision to reflect this update and is anticipated to be completed by the end of next week.

For more information, go to Health care mandate.

Last updated: 03/06/2026