1099 Contractor in New York with a Alaska Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
New York gets it, Alaska cannot. A 1099 has no withholding, so the money arrives whole and the tax is yours to pay in instalments. Alaska has no wage or income tax to apply to a nonresident contractor, and New York 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 New York, and none of it to Alaska.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · New York
Make quarterly estimated payments to New York State Department of Taxation and Finance — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · New York
File a New York resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| New York | Alaska | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IT-203 | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form IT-112-R | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | New York State Department of Taxation and Finance | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Alaska and working in New York 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: New York → AlaskaHome state only
- Remote worker: New York → AlaskaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: New York → AlaskaOne part-year return — the state you left
Other New York pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New York and my client is in Alaska. Do I have to file a Alaska tax return?
New York gets it, Alaska cannot. A 1099 has no withholding, so the money arrives whole and the tax is yours to pay in instalments. Alaska has no wage or income tax to apply to a nonresident contractor, and New York 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 New York and Alaska hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The New York and Alaska rules on this page were last checked against New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division 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 York State Department of Taxation and Finance — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07