1099 Contractor in Kentucky with a Florida Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Only Kentucky taxes you, and nobody withholds. Florida levies no personal income tax, so a Florida client creates no Florida obligation whatever. You make quarterly estimated payments to Kentucky on the profit and report it on a Kentucky 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 Kentucky, and none of it to Florida.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Kentucky
Make quarterly estimated payments to Kentucky Department of Revenue — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · Kentucky
File a Kentucky resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| Kentucky | Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 7 (Form 42A809) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 740-NP | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule ITC | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Kentucky Department of Revenue | Florida Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Florida and working in Kentucky 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: Kentucky → FloridaHome state only
- Remote worker: Kentucky → FloridaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Kentucky → FloridaOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Kentucky pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Kentucky and my client is in Florida. Do I have to file a Florida tax return?
Only Kentucky taxes you, and nobody withholds. Florida levies no personal income tax, so a Florida client creates no Florida obligation whatever. You make quarterly estimated payments to Kentucky on the profit and report it on a Kentucky 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 Kentucky and Florida hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Kentucky and Florida rules on this page were last checked against Kentucky Department of Revenue and Florida 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.
- Kentucky Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Florida Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07