Live in Illinois, Work Remotely for a Delaware Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Remote does not mean untaxed here. Delaware applies a convenience-of-the-employer test, so unless your employer can show the remote arrangement is a necessity rather than your preference, Delaware taxes the income. Illinois taxes it too as resident income and gives a credit against its own tax.
Last verified
A handful of states refuse to accept the ordinary sourcing rule for their own employers' remote staff. Delaware 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".
Delaware sources a nonresident employee's remote workdays to Delaware when the employee works outside the state for their own convenience rather than because the employer requires it. Days worked outside Delaware at the employer's necessity are excluded.
The rule is not an administrative preference. Delaware applies it under 30 Del. C. §1124; Delaware Division of Revenue Technical Information Memorandum 2011-1, 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 Delaware Division of Revenue.
A Illinois resident taxed by another state on the same income claims the credit for taxes paid to other states on Schedule CR. The credit is capped at the Illinois tax on that income, so it removes the double tax but never refunds the excess when the other state charges more.
Delaware also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Wilmington levies a city earned income tax on wages earned inside the city, collected by the city rather than the Division of Revenue.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · DelawareForm PIT-NON
File the Delaware nonresident return FIRST — you need the Delaware tax figure before you can complete Illinois.
- 2Resident return · IllinoisSchedule CR
File a Illinois resident return reporting all income, then claim the credit for tax paid to Delaware. The credit is capped at what Illinois would have charged on that same income, so if Delaware taxes it at a higher rate the difference is not refunded.
The two states, side by side
| Illinois | Delaware | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 4 (Form IL-W-5-NR) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | Yes — general rule |
| Nonresident return | Form IL-1040 with Schedule NR | Form PIT-NON |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule CR | Schedule I (Form PIT-RES) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | 30 days | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Illinois Department of Revenue | Delaware Division of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Delaware and working in Illinois 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: Illinois → DelawareBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Illinois → DelawareHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Illinois → DelawareTwo part-year returns
Other Illinois pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Illinois and work remotely for a Delaware employer. Which state do I pay?
Remote does not mean untaxed here. Delaware applies a convenience-of-the-employer test, so unless your employer can show the remote arrangement is a necessity rather than your preference, Delaware taxes the income. Illinois taxes it too as resident income and gives a credit against its own tax.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Both, potentially — and that is the problem. Delaware expects withholding because it claims the income, while Illinois taxes you as a resident. Many employers withhold only for Delaware, which leaves a Illinois 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. Illinois gives residents a credit for tax paid to Delaware on the same income, claimed on Schedule CR. The credit is capped at the Illinois tax on that income, so if Delaware taxes it more heavily the excess is not refunded by either state.
How current is this?
The Illinois and Delaware rules on this page were last checked against Illinois Department of Revenue and Delaware Division 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.
- Illinois Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Delaware Division of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07