Live in Iowa, Work Remotely for a Georgia Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Georgia levies no tax on wages; Iowa taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Iowa resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
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. Iowa reaches all of a resident's income, and Georgia adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Iowa
File a Iowa resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Iowa | Georgia | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form 44-016) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126 | Form 500 with Schedule 3 |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form IA 130 | Form 500 Schedule 2 |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Iowa Department of Revenue | Georgia Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Georgia and working in Iowa 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: Iowa → GeorgiaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Iowa → GeorgiaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Iowa → GeorgiaTwo part-year returns
Other Iowa pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Iowa and work remotely for a Georgia employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Georgia levies no tax on wages; Iowa taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Iowa resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Iowa. Your employer should withhold Iowa tax rather than Georgia tax on these wages. If a Georgia line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Georgia employer's location alone create a Georgia tax obligation?
No. Georgia 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 Georgia are a different matter — those are Georgia-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Iowa and Georgia rules on this page were last checked against Iowa Department of Revenue and Georgia 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.
- Iowa Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Georgia Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07