Live in New Mexico, Work Remotely for a Alaska Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
One state, one return: New Mexico. Alaska has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your New Mexico resident return reports the Alaska income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Alaska charged you nothing.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Alaska takes nothing, but New Mexico still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your New Mexico return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · New Mexico
File a New Mexico resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| New Mexico | Alaska | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form PIT-1 with Schedule PIT-B | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form PIT-1 (credit for taxes paid to another state) | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Alaska and working in New Mexico 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 Mexico → AlaskaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: New Mexico → AlaskaHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: New Mexico → AlaskaOne part-year return — the state you left
Other New Mexico pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New Mexico and work remotely for a Alaska employer. Which state do I pay?
One state, one return: New Mexico. Alaska has no wage income tax, so working there changes nothing about what you owe. Your New Mexico resident return reports the Alaska income along with everything else, and there is no credit to claim because Alaska charged you nothing.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
New Mexico. Your employer should withhold New Mexico tax rather than Alaska tax on these wages. If a Alaska line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The New Mexico and Alaska rules on this page were last checked against New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department and Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division 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 Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07