Live in Alabama, Work Remotely for a Tennessee Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Alabama taxes the income and Tennessee cannot. Residency, not the location of the job, drives this answer: Alabama reaches all of a resident's income, and Tennessee has no personal income tax to apply to the part earned inside its borders.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Tennessee takes nothing, but Alabama still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Alabama return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Alabama
File a Alabama resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Alabama | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 40NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule CR | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Alabama Department of Revenue | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Alabama gives:No state income tax on your wages.
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: Alabama → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Alabama → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Alabama → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Alabama pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Alabama and work remotely for a Tennessee employer. Which state do I pay?
Alabama taxes the income and Tennessee cannot. Residency, not the location of the job, drives this answer: Alabama reaches all of a resident's income, and Tennessee has no personal income tax to apply to the part earned inside its borders.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Alabama. Your employer should withhold Alabama tax rather than Tennessee tax on these wages. If a Tennessee line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Alabama and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Alabama Department of Revenue 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.
- Alabama Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07