1099 Contractor in Kentucky with a New Hampshire Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Only Kentucky taxes you, and nobody withholds. New Hampshire levies no personal income tax, so a New Hampshire client creates no New Hampshire obligation whatever. You make quarterly estimated payments to Kentucky on the profit and report it on a Kentucky resident return.
Last verified
Self-employment income from personal services is sourced to the place where the services are performed. You perform them in Kentucky; New Hampshire would have no claim even if it levied an income tax, which it does not.
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 | New Hampshire | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in New Hampshire 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 → New HampshireHome state only
- Remote worker: Kentucky → New HampshireHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Kentucky → New HampshireOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Kentucky pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Kentucky and my client is in New Hampshire. Do I have to file a New Hampshire tax return?
Only Kentucky taxes you, and nobody withholds. New Hampshire levies no personal income tax, so a New Hampshire client creates no New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Kentucky and New Hampshire rules on this page were last checked against Kentucky Department of Revenue and New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration 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
- New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07