Live in North Carolina, Work Remotely for a Louisiana Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
North Carolina gets all of it. Because Louisiana does not tax wage income, no Louisiana withholding exists and no Louisiana return is required — but North Carolina taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Louisiana still belongs on your North Carolina resident return.
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. North Carolina reaches all of a resident's income, and Louisiana adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · North Carolina
File a North Carolina resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| North Carolina | Louisiana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form D-400 with Schedule PN | Form IT-540B |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form D-400TC | Schedule G (Form IT-540) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | North Carolina Department of Revenue | Louisiana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Louisiana and working in North Carolina 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: North Carolina → LouisianaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: North Carolina → LouisianaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: North Carolina → LouisianaTwo part-year returns
Other North Carolina pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in North Carolina and work remotely for a Louisiana employer. Which state do I pay?
North Carolina gets all of it. Because Louisiana does not tax wage income, no Louisiana withholding exists and no Louisiana return is required — but North Carolina taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Louisiana still belongs on your North Carolina resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
North Carolina. Your employer should withhold North Carolina 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 North Carolina and Louisiana rules on this page were last checked against North Carolina Department of Revenue 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.
- North Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07