1099 Contractor in Virginia with a Tennessee Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
One state, paid quarterly. Your services are performed in Virginia, which makes the income Virginia-source and Virginia-taxed; Tennessee taxes no personal income at all. Set aside for Virginia estimated payments — no client withholds anything for you.
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 Virginia, and none of it to Tennessee.
What you file
- 1Quarterly estimated payments · Virginia
Make quarterly estimated payments to Virginia Department of Taxation — nothing is withheld from a 1099.
- 2Resident return · Virginia
File a Virginia resident return reporting your full self-employment income.
The two states, side by side
| Virginia | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form VA-4) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 763 | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule OSC | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Virginia Department of Taxation | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Virginia 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: Virginia → TennesseeHome state only
- Remote worker: Virginia → TennesseeHome state only
- Moved mid-year: Virginia → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Virginia and my client is in Tennessee. Do I have to file a Tennessee tax return?
One state, paid quarterly. Your services are performed in Virginia, which makes the income Virginia-source and Virginia-taxed; Tennessee taxes no personal income at all. Set aside for Virginia estimated payments — no client withholds anything for you.
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 Tennessee hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Virginia and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Virginia Department of Taxation 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.
- Virginia Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia — Form VA-4accessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Tax — Reciprocityaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07