1099 Contractor in Nebraska with a Tennessee Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Nebraska gets it, Tennessee cannot. A 1099 has no withholding, so the money arrives whole and the tax is yours to pay in instalments. Tennessee has no wage or income tax to apply to a nonresident contractor, and Nebraska taxes residents on everything they earn.
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 Nebraska, and none of it to Tennessee.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Nebraska
Make quarterly estimated payments to Nebraska Department of Revenue — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · Nebraska
File a Nebraska resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| Nebraska | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 1040N with Schedule III | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 1040N Schedule II | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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: Nebraska → TennesseeHome state only
- Remote worker: Nebraska → TennesseeHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Nebraska → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Nebraska pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Nebraska and my client is in Tennessee. Do I have to file a Tennessee tax return?
Nebraska gets it, Tennessee cannot. A 1099 has no withholding, so the money arrives whole and the tax is yours to pay in instalments. Tennessee has no wage or income tax to apply to a nonresident contractor, and Nebraska taxes residents on everything they earn.
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 Nebraska and Tennessee hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Nebraska and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Nebraska 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.
- Nebraska Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07