Live in Delaware, Work Remotely for a Connecticut Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Both states claim these wages, and the reason is Connecticut's convenience rule. Working from home in Delaware would normally end Connecticut's interest; instead Connecticut treats days worked at home for your own convenience as Connecticut days. Expect two returns and a credit that may not fully cover the gap.
Last verified
A handful of states refuse to accept the ordinary sourcing rule for their own employers' remote staff. Connecticut is one of them, and its convenience-of-the-employer rule is the reason this page does not end with "only your home state taxes you".
Connecticut's convenience rule is retaliatory rather than general: it sources a nonresident's remote days to Connecticut only when the employee lives in a state that itself applies a convenience-of-the-employer test to Connecticut residents. A resident of a state with no such rule is not reached by it.
The rule is not an administrative preference. Connecticut applies it under Conn. Gen. Stat. §12-711(b)(2)(C), and the burden of showing that remote work is an employer necessity rather than an employee convenience falls on you and your employer, not on Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.
A Delaware resident taxed by another state on the same income claims the credit for taxes paid to other states on Schedule I (Form PIT-RES). The credit is capped at the Delaware tax on that income, so it removes the double tax but never refunds the excess when the other state charges more.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · ConnecticutForm CT-1040NR/PY
File the Connecticut nonresident return FIRST — you need the Connecticut tax figure before you can complete Delaware.
- 2Resident return · DelawareSchedule I (Form PIT-RES)
File a Delaware resident return reporting all income, then claim the credit for tax paid to Connecticut. The credit is capped at what Delaware would have charged on that same income, so if Connecticut taxes it at a higher rate the difference is not refunded.
The two states, side by side
| Delaware | Connecticut | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | Only against convenience-rule states |
| Nonresident return | Form PIT-NON | Form CT-1040NR/PY |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule I (Form PIT-RES) | Schedule 2 (Form CT-1040) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Delaware Division of Revenue | Connecticut Department of Revenue Services |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Connecticut and working in Delaware gives:Convenience-of-the-employer rule — both states tax you.
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: Delaware → ConnecticutBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Delaware → ConnecticutHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Delaware → ConnecticutTwo part-year returns
Other Delaware pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Delaware and work remotely for a Connecticut employer. Which state do I pay?
Both states claim these wages, and the reason is Connecticut's convenience rule. Working from home in Delaware would normally end Connecticut's interest; instead Connecticut treats days worked at home for your own convenience as Connecticut days. Expect two returns and a credit that may not fully cover the gap.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Both, potentially — and that is the problem. Connecticut expects withholding because it claims the income, while Delaware taxes you as a resident. Many employers withhold only for Connecticut, which leaves a Delaware balance due at filing unless you make estimated payments during the year.
Will I end up paying tax twice on the same income?
Not twice over, but you will pay the higher of the two rates. Delaware gives residents a credit for tax paid to Connecticut on the same income, claimed on Schedule I (Form PIT-RES). The credit is capped at the Delaware tax on that income, so if Connecticut taxes it more heavily the excess is not refunded by either state.
How current is this?
The Delaware and Connecticut rules on this page were last checked against Delaware Division of Revenue and Connecticut Department of Revenue Services 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.
- Delaware Division of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Connecticut Department of Revenue Services — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07