1099 Contractor in Washington with a Florida Client: Where Do You File?
Answer
A clean pair for a contractor. With no personal income tax in Washington or Florida, the state layer disappears: no estimated payments, no nonresident return, and no question about whether the client's location creates a filing obligation.
Last verified
Contractors carry their own tax administration, which usually means quarterly estimated payments to a home state. This pairing removes that layer entirely — neither Washington nor Florida taxes personal income.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either Washington or Florida on these wages. Your federal return is unaffected — the federal government taxes the income whatever the states do.
The two states, side by side
| Washington | Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Florida Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Florida and working in Washington gives:No state income tax either side.
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: Washington → FloridaNo state income tax either side
- Remote worker: Washington → FloridaNo state income tax either side
- Moved mid-year: Washington → FloridaNo state return either side
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Washington and my client is in Florida. Do I have to file a Florida tax return?
A clean pair for a contractor. With no personal income tax in Washington or Florida, the state layer disappears: no estimated payments, no nonresident return, and no question about whether the client's location creates a filing obligation.
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 Washington and Florida hold an agreement makes no difference to a self-employed filer — sourcing rules decide the answer instead.
How current is this?
The Washington and Florida rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue and Florida 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.
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Florida Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07