Live in California, Work Remotely for a South Carolina Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. South Carolina levies no tax on wages; California taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single California resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. South Carolina takes nothing, but California still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your California return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · California
File a California resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| California | South Carolina | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 540NR | Form SC1040 with Schedule NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule S | Form SC1040TC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | California Franchise Tax Board | South Carolina Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in South Carolina and working in California 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: California → South CarolinaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: California → South CarolinaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: California → South CarolinaTwo part-year returns
Other California pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in California and work remotely for a South Carolina employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. South Carolina levies no tax on wages; California taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single California resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
California. Your employer should withhold California tax rather than South Carolina tax on these wages. If a South Carolina line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my South Carolina employer's location alone create a South Carolina tax obligation?
No. South Carolina 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 South Carolina are a different matter — those are South Carolina-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The California and South Carolina rules on this page were last checked against California Franchise Tax Board and South Carolina 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.
- California Franchise Tax Board — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- South Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07