1099 Contractor in California with a Nevada Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Only California taxes you, and nobody withholds. Nevada levies no personal income tax, so a Nevada client creates no Nevada obligation whatever. You make quarterly estimated payments to California on the profit and report it on a California resident return.
Last verified
Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so the tax that a W-2 employee never sees is money you are holding on someone else's behalf. In this pairing all of it belongs to California, and none of it to Nevada.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · California
Make quarterly estimated payments to California Franchise Tax Board — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · California
File a California resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| California | Nevada | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 540NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule S | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | California Franchise Tax Board | Nevada Department of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Nevada and working in California gives:Client state only, if you work there.
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: California → NevadaHome state only
- Remote worker: California → NevadaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: California → NevadaOne part-year return — the state you left
Other California pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in California and my client is in Nevada. Do I have to file a Nevada tax return?
Only California taxes you, and nobody withholds. Nevada levies no personal income tax, so a Nevada client creates no Nevada obligation whatever. You make quarterly estimated payments to California on the profit and report it on a California resident return.
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 California and Nevada hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The California and Nevada rules on this page were last checked against California Franchise Tax Board and Nevada Department 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.
- California Franchise Tax Board — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Nevada Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07