1099 Contractor in Montana with a Utah Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Montana taxes all of it; Utah taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Montana quarterly. A Utah client alone creates no Utah filing obligation — performing services inside Utah does, and Montana 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 Utah is measured in days on the ground rather than in invoices sent.
Utah publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Utah-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 Utah State Tax Commission nonresident instructions before filing.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Montana
Make quarterly estimated payments to Montana Department of Revenue on your full self-employment income — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Nonresident return · UtahForm TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B
File a Utah nonresident return only if you performed services inside Utah. Utah publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Utah-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 Utah State Tax Commission nonresident instructions before filing.
- 3Resident return · MontanaForm 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state)
File the Montana resident return last and claim the credit for any tax paid to Utah.
The two states, side by side
| Montana | Utah | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form MW-4) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule | Form TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) | Schedule TC-40S |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Montana Department of Revenue | Utah State Tax Commission |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Utah and working in Montana 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: Montana → UtahBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Montana → UtahHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Montana → UtahTwo part-year returns
Other Montana pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Montana and my client is in Utah. Do I have to file a Utah tax return?
Montana taxes all of it; Utah taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Montana quarterly. A Utah client alone creates no Utah filing obligation — performing services inside Utah does, and Montana 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 Montana and Utah hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Montana and Utah rules on this page were last checked against Montana Department of Revenue and Utah State Tax Commission 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.
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Utah State Tax Commission — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07