1099 Contractor in Alaska with a Rhode Island Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
The client's address is not the test. Alaska has no personal income tax, so nothing is owed at home; Rhode Island taxes nonresidents on income from services performed within Rhode Island, so if you never travel there to work, there is nothing to file. Days on site change that.
Last verified
The most common contractor worry — that invoicing an out-of-state client creates a filing obligation there — is usually unfounded. What creates the obligation is physical presence, and Alaska residents have no home-state return in any case.
Rhode Island publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Rhode Island-source wage income above the state's general filing threshold requires a nonresident return, and that threshold is reset each year — check the current figure on the Rhode Island Division of Taxation nonresident instructions before filing.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · Rhode IslandForm RI-1040NR
File a Rhode Island nonresident return only for income from services you physically performed in Rhode Island. Alaska does not tax wage or self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| Alaska | Rhode Island | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form RI-1040NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form RI-1040NR Schedule II |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division | Rhode Island Division of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Rhode Island and working in Alaska gives:Home state only — estimated payments.
Same two states, different situation
The withholding answer turns on how you are paid and where the work happens, not only on which two states are involved.
- W-2 commuter: Alaska → Rhode IslandWork state only
- Remote worker: Alaska → Rhode IslandNo state income tax on your wages
- Moved mid-year: Alaska → Rhode IslandOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Alaska pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Alaska and my client is in Rhode Island. Do I have to file a Rhode Island tax return?
The client's address is not the test. Alaska has no personal income tax, so nothing is owed at home; Rhode Island taxes nonresidents on income from services performed within Rhode Island, so if you never travel there to work, there is nothing to file. Days on site change that.
Do reciprocity agreements help a 1099 contractor?
No. Every state reciprocity agreement in the country is an arrangement about wage withholding between two revenue departments, and a 1099 has no withholding to switch off. Whether Alaska and Rhode Island hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Alaska and Rhode Island rules on this page were last checked against Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division and Rhode Island Division of Taxation on 2026-08-07. We re-check the full grid every December after state legislative sessions close, and re-check the convenience-of-the-employer states quarterly because that is where the rules move fastest.
Sources
Every fact above comes from the revenue department that publishes the rule. We do not cite secondary summaries, and we do not restate a figure we could not find at source.
- Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Rhode Island Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07