Live in Arkansas, Work Remotely for a Idaho Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
One state, one return: Arkansas. Idaho has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your Arkansas resident return reports the Idaho income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Idaho charged you nothing.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Idaho takes nothing, but Arkansas still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Arkansas return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Arkansas
File a Arkansas resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Arkansas | Idaho | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form AR1000NR | Form 43 |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form AR1000TC | Form 39NR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration | Idaho State Tax Commission |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Idaho and working in Arkansas gives:Home state only.
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: Arkansas → IdahoBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Arkansas → IdahoHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Arkansas → IdahoTwo part-year returns
Other Arkansas pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Arkansas and work remotely for a Idaho employer. Which state do I pay?
One state, one return: Arkansas. Idaho has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your Arkansas resident return reports the Idaho income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Idaho charged you nothing.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Arkansas. Your employer should withhold Arkansas tax rather than Idaho tax on these wages. If a Idaho line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Idaho employer's location alone create a Idaho tax obligation?
No. Idaho sources wages to the place where the work is physically performed, and it does not apply a convenience-of-the-employer rule that would override that. Days you actually spend working inside Idaho are a different matter — those are Idaho-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Arkansas and Idaho rules on this page were last checked against Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration and Idaho State Tax Commission 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.
- Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Idaho State Tax Commission — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07