1099 Contractor in Maryland with a Montana Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Maryland taxes all of it; Montana taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Maryland quarterly. A Montana client alone creates no Montana filing obligation — performing services inside Montana does, and Maryland then credits that tax.
Last verified
The client's location is the wrong thing to track. What matters is where you were sitting when you did the work — which is why a contractor's exposure to Montana is measured in days on the ground rather than in invoices sent.
Montana publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Montana-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 Montana Department of Revenue nonresident instructions before filing.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Maryland
Make quarterly estimated payments to Comptroller of Maryland on your full self-employment income — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Nonresident return · MontanaForm 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule
File a Montana nonresident return only if you performed services inside Montana. Montana publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Montana-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 Montana Department of Revenue nonresident instructions before filing.
- 3Resident return · MarylandForm 502CR
File the Maryland resident return last and claim the credit for any tax paid to Montana.
The two states, side by side
| Maryland | Montana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 4 (Form MW507) | 1 (Form MW-4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 505 with Form 505NR | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 502CR | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Comptroller of Maryland | Montana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Montana and working in Maryland gives:Home state, plus the client state 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: Maryland → MontanaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Maryland → MontanaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Maryland → MontanaTwo part-year returns
Other Maryland pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Maryland and my client is in Montana. Do I have to file a Montana tax return?
Maryland taxes all of it; Montana taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Maryland quarterly. A Montana client alone creates no Montana filing obligation — performing services inside Montana does, and Maryland then credits that tax.
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 Maryland and Montana hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Maryland and Montana rules on this page were last checked against Comptroller of Maryland and Montana 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.
- Comptroller of Maryland — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Maryland — Form MW507accessed 2026-08-07
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07