BobKamman
Level 15

Do you have just one client, or two? Where does the other spouse live -- also in California?  

If one has income of 20K and the other has income of 40K, then each pays tax on 30K.  I would show the computations on a separate spreadsheet, then plug in the "split" numbers to the software and file paper returns.  Instead of spending all day trying to pound square pegs into round holes.