1099 Contractor in Pennsylvania with a Montana Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Pay Pennsylvania by instalments, and watch your Montana days. Reciprocity agreements do not help here: every one of them covers wage withholding, and a 1099 has no withholding to switch off. Pennsylvania taxes the full profit, Montana taxes the on-site share, and the Pennsylvania credit reconciles them.
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 · Pennsylvania
Make quarterly estimated payments to Pennsylvania Department of Revenue 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 · PennsylvaniaSchedule G-L
File the Pennsylvania resident return last and claim the credit for any tax paid to Montana.
The two states, side by side
| Pennsylvania | Montana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 6 (Form REV-419) | 1 (Form MW-4) |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form PA-40 (nonresident) | Form 2 with the nonresident/part-year schedule |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule G-L | Form 2 (credit for income tax paid to another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue | Montana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Montana and working in Pennsylvania 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: Pennsylvania → MontanaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Pennsylvania → MontanaHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Pennsylvania → MontanaTwo part-year returns
Other Pennsylvania pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Pennsylvania and my client is in Montana. Do I have to file a Montana tax return?
Pay Pennsylvania by instalments, and watch your Montana days. Reciprocity agreements do not help here: every one of them covers wage withholding, and a 1099 has no withholding to switch off. Pennsylvania taxes the full profit, Montana taxes the on-site share, and the Pennsylvania credit reconciles them.
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 Pennsylvania and Montana hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Pennsylvania and Montana rules on this page were last checked against Pennsylvania Department of Revenue 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.
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania — Form REV-419accessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Guide — Income Subject to Tax Withholdingaccessed 2026-08-07
- Montana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07