1099 Contractor in New Jersey with a Montana Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
New Jersey taxes all of it; Montana taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay New Jersey quarterly. A Montana client alone creates no Montana filing obligation — performing services inside Montana does, and New Jersey then credits that tax.
Last verified
Reciprocity agreements are the first thing contractors ask about and the first thing that does not apply to them. Every agreement in the country is a wage-withholding arrangement, and a 1099 has no withholding to switch off.
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 · New Jersey
Make quarterly estimated payments to New Jersey Division of Taxation 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 · New JerseySchedule NJ-COJ
File the New Jersey resident return last and claim the credit for any tax paid to Montana.
The two states, side by side
| New Jersey | Montana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form NJ-165) | 1 (Form MW-4) |
| Convenience rule | Only against convenience-rule states | No |
| Nonresident return | Form NJ-1040NR | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule NJ-COJ | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | New Jersey Division of Taxation | Montana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Montana and working in New Jersey 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: New Jersey → MontanaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: New Jersey → MontanaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: New Jersey → MontanaTwo part-year returns
Other New Jersey pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New Jersey and my client is in Montana. Do I have to file a Montana tax return?
New Jersey taxes all of it; Montana taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay New Jersey quarterly. A Montana client alone creates no Montana filing obligation — performing services inside Montana does, and New Jersey 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 New Jersey and Montana hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The New Jersey and Montana rules on this page were last checked against New Jersey Division of Taxation 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.
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — Convenience of the Employer Ruleaccessed 2026-08-07
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07