Live in New Mexico, Work Remotely for a New Jersey Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. New Jersey levies no tax on wages; New Mexico taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single New Mexico 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. New Jersey 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 | New Jersey | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 1 (Form NJ-165) |
| Convenience rule | No | Only against convenience-rule states |
| Nonresident return | Form PIT-1 with Schedule PIT-B | Form NJ-1040NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form PIT-1 (credit for taxes paid to another state) | Schedule NJ-COJ |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department | New Jersey Division of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in New Jersey and working in New Mexico 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: New Mexico → New JerseyBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: New Mexico → New JerseyHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: New Mexico → New JerseyTwo part-year returns
Other New Mexico pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New Mexico and work remotely for a New Jersey employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. New Jersey levies no tax on wages; New Mexico taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single New Mexico resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
New Mexico. Your employer should withhold New Mexico tax rather than New Jersey tax on these wages. If a New Jersey line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my New Jersey employer's location alone create a New Jersey tax obligation?
No. New Jersey 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 New Jersey are a different matter — those are New Jersey-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The New Mexico and New Jersey rules on this page were last checked against New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department and New Jersey Division of Taxation 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
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — Convenience of the Employer Ruleaccessed 2026-08-07