Live in District of Columbia, Work Remotely for a Tennessee Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Only District of Columbia taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. District of Columbia taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a District of Columbia 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. Tennessee takes nothing, but District of Columbia still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your District of Columbia return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · District of Columbia
File a District of Columbia resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| District of Columbia | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 2 (Form D-4A) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | None — nonresidents exempt | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule U (Form D-40) | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in District of Columbia 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: District of Columbia → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: District of Columbia → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: District of Columbia → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other District of Columbia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in District of Columbia and work remotely for a Tennessee employer. Which state do I pay?
Only District of Columbia taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. District of Columbia taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a District of Columbia resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
District of Columbia. Your employer should withhold District of Columbia tax rather than Tennessee tax on these wages. If a Tennessee line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The District of Columbia and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue and Tennessee 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.
- District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07