Live in Colorado, Work Remotely for a Iowa Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Only Colorado taxes you. Iowa levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Iowa return. Colorado taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Iowa earnings go on a Colorado resident return in full.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Iowa takes nothing, but Colorado still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Colorado return.
Iowa also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Many Iowa school districts levy a surtax calculated as a percentage of state income tax. It is reported on the state return rather than separately.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Colorado
File a Colorado resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Colorado | Iowa | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 1 (Form 44-016) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | Form IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126 |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form DR 0104CR | Form IA 130 |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue department | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division | Iowa Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Iowa and working in Colorado 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: Colorado → IowaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Colorado → IowaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Colorado → IowaTwo part-year returns
Other Colorado pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Colorado and work remotely for a Iowa employer. Which state do I pay?
Only Colorado taxes you. Iowa levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Iowa return. Colorado taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Iowa earnings go on a Colorado resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Colorado. Your employer should withhold Colorado tax rather than Iowa tax on these wages. If a Iowa line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Iowa employer's location alone create a Iowa tax obligation?
No. Iowa 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 Iowa are a different matter — those are Iowa-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Colorado and Iowa rules on this page were last checked against Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division and Iowa 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.
- Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Iowa Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07