Live in Idaho, Work Remotely for a Connecticut Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Idaho gets all of it. Because Connecticut does not tax wage income, no Connecticut withholding exists and no Connecticut return is required — but Idaho taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Connecticut still belongs on your Idaho resident return.
Last verified
Crossing into a state with no income tax does not lower your tax bill, because your home state is not taxing you on where you work — it is taxing you on where you live. Idaho reaches all of a resident's income, and Connecticut adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Idaho
File a Idaho resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Idaho | Connecticut | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | Only against convenience-rule states |
| Nonresident return | Form 43 | Form CT-1040NR/PY |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 39NR | Schedule 2 (Form CT-1040) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Idaho State Tax Commission | 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 Idaho 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: Idaho → ConnecticutBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Idaho → ConnecticutHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Idaho → ConnecticutTwo part-year returns
Other Idaho pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Idaho and work remotely for a Connecticut employer. Which state do I pay?
Idaho gets all of it. Because Connecticut does not tax wage income, no Connecticut withholding exists and no Connecticut return is required — but Idaho taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Connecticut still belongs on your Idaho resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Idaho. Your employer should withhold Idaho tax rather than Connecticut tax on these wages. If a Connecticut line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Connecticut employer's location alone create a Connecticut tax obligation?
No. Connecticut 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 Connecticut are a different matter — those are Connecticut-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Idaho and Connecticut rules on this page were last checked against Idaho State Tax Commission 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.
- Idaho State Tax Commission — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Connecticut Department of Revenue Services — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07