Electronic states of the C6H5F+ ion have been studied within C-2v, symmetry by using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and multiconfiguration second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) methods in conjunction with an atomic natural orbital basis. Vertical excitation energies (T-v) and relative energies (T-nu) at the ground-state geometry of the C6H5F molecule were calculated for 12 states. For the five lowest-lying states, 1(2)B(1), 1(2)A(2), 2(2)B(1), 1(2)B(2), and 1(2)A(1), geometries and vibrational frequencies were calculated at the CASSCF level, and adiabatic excitation energies (T-0) and potential energy curves (PEC) for F-loss dissociations were calculated at the CASPT//CASSCF level. On the basis of the CASPT2 T-0 calculations, we assign the X, A, B, C, and D states of the ion to 1(2)B(1), 1(2)A(2), 2(2)B(1), 1(2)B(2), and 1(2)A(1), respectively, which supports the suggested assignment of the B state to (2)B-2(1) by Anand et al. based on their experiments. Our CASPT2 T-v and T-nu calculations and our MRCI T-0, T-v and T-nu calculations all indicate that the 2(2)B(1) state of C6H5F+ lies below 1(2)B(2). By checking the relative energies of the asymptote products and checking the fragmental geometries and the charge and spin density populations in the asymptote products along the CASPT2//CASSCF PECs, we conclude that the 1(2)B(1), 1(2)B(2), and 1(2)A(1) states of C6H5F+ correlate with C6H5+ (1(1)A(1)) + F ((2)p) (the first dissociation limit). The energy increases monotonically along the 1(2)B(1) PEC, and there are barriers and minima along the 1(2)B(2) and 1(2)A(1) PECs. The predicted appearance potential value for C6H5+ (1(1)A(1)) is very close to the average of the experimental values. Our CASPT2//CASSCF PEC calculations have led to the conclusion that the 1(2)A(2) state of C6H5F+ correlates with the third dissociation limit Of C6H5+ (1(1)A(2)) + F ((2)p), and a preliminary discussion is presented.