Live in New York, Work Remotely for a Louisiana Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Only New York taxes you. Louisiana levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Louisiana return. New York taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Louisiana earnings go on a New York 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. Louisiana takes nothing, but New York still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your New York return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · New York
File a New York resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| New York | Louisiana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | Yes — general rule | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IT-203 | Form IT-540B |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form IT-112-R | Schedule G (Form IT-540) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | New York State Department of Taxation and Finance | Louisiana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Louisiana and working in New York gives:Convenience-of-the-employer rule — both states tax you.
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 York → LouisianaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: New York → LouisianaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: New York → LouisianaTwo part-year returns
Other New York pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in New York and work remotely for a Louisiana employer. Which state do I pay?
Only New York taxes you. Louisiana levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Louisiana return. New York taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Louisiana earnings go on a New York resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
New York. Your employer should withhold New York tax rather than Louisiana tax on these wages. If a Louisiana line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Louisiana employer's location alone create a Louisiana tax obligation?
No. Louisiana 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 Louisiana are a different matter — those are Louisiana-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The New York and Louisiana rules on this page were last checked against New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and Louisiana 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 York State Department of Taxation and Finance — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07