1099 Contractor in Kansas with a Tennessee Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
One state, paid quarterly. Your services are performed in Kansas, which makes the income Kansas-source and Kansas-taxed; Tennessee taxes no personal income at all. Set aside for Kansas estimated payments — no client withholds anything for you.
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 Kansas, and none of it to Tennessee.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Kansas
Make quarterly estimated payments to Kansas Department of Revenue — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · Kansas
File a Kansas resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| Kansas | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form K-40 with Schedule S Part B | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form K-40 (credit for taxes paid to other states) | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Kansas Department of Revenue | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Kansas 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: Kansas → TennesseeHome state only
- Remote worker: Kansas → TennesseeHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Kansas → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Kansas pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Kansas and my client is in Tennessee. Do I have to file a Tennessee tax return?
One state, paid quarterly. Your services are performed in Kansas, which makes the income Kansas-source and Kansas-taxed; Tennessee taxes no personal income at all. Set aside for Kansas estimated payments — no client withholds anything for you.
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 Kansas and Tennessee hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Kansas and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Kansas Department of Revenue and Tennessee Department of Revenue 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.
- Kansas Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07