Live in New Jersey, Work Remotely for a Washington Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Only New Jersey taxes you. Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Washington return. New Jersey taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Washington earnings go on a New Jersey resident return in full.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Washington takes nothing, but New Jersey still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your New Jersey return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · New Jersey
File a New Jersey resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| New Jersey | Washington | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 1 (Form NJ-165) | None |
| Convenience rule | Only against convenience-rule states | No |
| Nonresident return | Form NJ-1040NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule NJ-COJ | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | New Jersey Division of Taxation | Washington State Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Washington and working in New Jersey 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: New Jersey → WashingtonHome state only
- 1099 contractor: New Jersey → WashingtonHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: New Jersey → WashingtonOne part-year return — the state you left
Other New Jersey pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New Jersey and work remotely for a Washington employer. Which state do I pay?
Only New Jersey taxes you. Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Washington return. New Jersey taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Washington earnings go on a New Jersey resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
New Jersey. Your employer should withhold New Jersey tax rather than Washington tax on these wages. If a Washington line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The New Jersey and Washington rules on this page were last checked against New Jersey Division of Taxation and Washington State 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.
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — Convenience of the Employer Ruleaccessed 2026-08-07
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07