Live in Ohio, Work Remotely for a Tennessee Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Only Ohio taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. Ohio taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a Ohio 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. Tennessee takes nothing, but Ohio still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Ohio return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Ohio
File a Ohio resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Ohio | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form IT 4NR) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IT 1040 with Schedule IT NRC | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Ohio Schedule of Credits (resident credit) | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | Ohio Department of Taxation | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Ohio 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: Ohio → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Ohio → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Ohio → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Ohio pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Ohio and work remotely for a Tennessee employer. Which state do I pay?
Only Ohio taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. Ohio taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a Ohio resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Ohio. Your employer should withhold Ohio tax rather than Tennessee tax on these wages. If a Tennessee line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Ohio and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Ohio Department of Taxation and Tennessee 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.
- Ohio Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Ohio — Form IT 4NRaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07