Live in Iowa, Work Remotely for a Vermont Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Vermont 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
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Vermont takes nothing, but Iowa still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Iowa return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Iowa
File a Iowa resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Iowa | Vermont | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form 44-016) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IA 1040 with Schedule IA 126 | Form IN-111 with Schedule IN-113 |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form IA 130 | Schedule IN-117 |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Iowa Department of Revenue | Vermont Department of Taxes |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Vermont 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 → VermontBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Iowa → VermontHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Iowa → VermontTwo part-year returns
Other Iowa pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Iowa and work remotely for a Vermont employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Vermont 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 Vermont tax on these wages. If a Vermont line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Vermont employer's location alone create a Vermont tax obligation?
No. Vermont 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 Vermont are a different matter — those are Vermont-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Iowa and Vermont rules on this page were last checked against Iowa Department of Revenue and Vermont Department of Taxes 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
- Vermont Department of Taxes — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07