Live in Florida, Work Remotely for a North Carolina Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
North Carolina cannot follow the paycheck home. Because North Carolina sources wages to the place of performance and you perform them in Florida, the income is Florida-source; and Florida does not tax wages. The result is no state income tax on these earnings at all.
Last verified
Wages are sourced to the place where the work is physically performed. That default is what makes remote work simple, and it is only disturbed when the employer's state runs a convenience-of-the-employer rule. North Carolina does not.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either Florida or North Carolina on these wages. Your federal return is unaffected — the federal government taxes the income whatever the states do.
The two states, side by side
| Florida | North Carolina | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form D-400 with Schedule PN |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form D-400TC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Florida Department of Revenue | North Carolina Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in North Carolina and working in Florida 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: Florida → North CarolinaWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Florida → North CarolinaClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Florida → North CarolinaOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Florida pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Florida and work remotely for a North Carolina employer. Which state do I pay?
North Carolina cannot follow the paycheck home. Because North Carolina sources wages to the place of performance and you perform them in Florida, the income is Florida-source; and Florida does not tax wages. The result is no state income tax on these earnings at all.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Neither. There is no state income tax to withhold on either side of this pairing, so a state line on your pay stub for Florida or North Carolina is an error worth querying.
Does my North Carolina employer's location alone create a North Carolina tax obligation?
No. North Carolina 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 North Carolina are a different matter — those are North Carolina-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Florida and North Carolina rules on this page were last checked against Florida Department of Revenue and North Carolina 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.
- Florida Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- North Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07