Live in California, Work Remotely for a Texas Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
One state, one return: California. Texas has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your California resident return reports the Texas income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Texas 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. Texas 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 | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 540NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule S | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | California Franchise Tax Board | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Texas and working in California 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: California → TexasHome state only
- 1099 contractor: California → TexasHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: California → TexasOne part-year return — the state you left
Other California pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in California and work remotely for a Texas employer. Which state do I pay?
One state, one return: California. Texas has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your California resident return reports the Texas income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Texas charged you nothing.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
California. Your employer should withhold California tax rather than Texas tax on these wages. If a Texas line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The California and Texas rules on this page were last checked against California Franchise Tax Board and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 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
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07