Live in Kentucky, Work Remotely for a Tennessee Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Tennessee levies no tax on wages; Kentucky taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Kentucky 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. Kentucky reaches all of a resident's income, and Tennessee adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Kentucky
File a Kentucky resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Kentucky | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 7 (Form 42A809) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 740-NP | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule ITC | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Kentucky Department of Revenue | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Kentucky gives:No state income tax on your wages.
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: Kentucky → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Kentucky → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Kentucky → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Kentucky pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Kentucky and work remotely for a Tennessee employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Tennessee levies no tax on wages; Kentucky taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Kentucky resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Kentucky. Your employer should withhold Kentucky tax rather than Tennessee tax on these wages. If a Tennessee line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Kentucky and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Kentucky Department of Revenue and Tennessee 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.
- Kentucky Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07