1099 Contractor in Virginia with a Colorado Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
Virginia taxes all of it; Colorado taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Virginia quarterly. A Colorado client alone creates no Colorado filing obligation — performing services inside Colorado does, and Virginia 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 Colorado is measured in days on the ground rather than in invoices sent.
Colorado publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Colorado-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 Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division nonresident instructions before filing.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Virginia
Make quarterly estimated payments to Virginia Department of Taxation on your full self-employment income — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Nonresident return · ColoradoForm DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN
File a Colorado nonresident return only if you performed services inside Colorado. Colorado publishes no de minimis day count or dollar floor for nonresidents. Any Colorado-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 Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division nonresident instructions before filing.
- 3Resident return · VirginiaSchedule OSC
File the Virginia resident return last and claim the credit for any tax paid to Colorado.
The two states, side by side
| Virginia | Colorado | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form VA-4) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 763 | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule OSC | Form DR 0104CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Virginia Department of Taxation | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Colorado and working in Virginia 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: Virginia → ColoradoBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- Remote worker: Virginia → ColoradoHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Virginia → ColoradoTwo part-year returns
Other Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Virginia and my client is in Colorado. Do I have to file a Colorado tax return?
Virginia taxes all of it; Colorado taxes only what you earn on its soil. Nothing is withheld from a 1099, so you pay Virginia quarterly. A Colorado client alone creates no Colorado filing obligation — performing services inside Colorado does, and Virginia 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 Virginia and Colorado hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Virginia and Colorado rules on this page were last checked against Virginia Department of Taxation and Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation 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.
- Virginia Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia — Form VA-4accessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Tax — Reciprocityaccessed 2026-08-07
- Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07