Live in Colorado, Work Remotely for a Minnesota Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Colorado gets all of it. Because Minnesota does not tax wage income, no Minnesota withholding exists and no Minnesota return is required — but Colorado taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Minnesota still belongs on your Colorado resident return.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Minnesota takes nothing, but Colorado still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Colorado return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Colorado
File a Colorado resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Colorado | Minnesota | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 2 (Form MWR) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form DR 0104 with Schedule DR 0104PN | Form M1 with Schedule M1NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form DR 0104CR | Schedule M1CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division | Minnesota Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Minnesota 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 → MinnesotaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Colorado → MinnesotaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Colorado → MinnesotaTwo part-year returns
Other Colorado pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Colorado and work remotely for a Minnesota employer. Which state do I pay?
Colorado gets all of it. Because Minnesota does not tax wage income, no Minnesota withholding exists and no Minnesota return is required — but Colorado taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Minnesota still belongs on your Colorado resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Colorado. Your employer should withhold Colorado tax rather than Minnesota tax on these wages. If a Minnesota line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Minnesota employer's location alone create a Minnesota tax obligation?
No. Minnesota 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 Minnesota are a different matter — those are Minnesota-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Colorado and Minnesota rules on this page were last checked against Colorado Department of Revenue — Taxation Division and Minnesota 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
- Minnesota Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07