Live in South Carolina, Work Remotely for a California Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. California levies no tax on wages; South Carolina taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single South Carolina 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. California takes nothing, but South Carolina still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your South Carolina return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · South Carolina
File a South Carolina resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| South Carolina | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form SC1040 with Schedule NR | Form 540NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form SC1040TC | Schedule S |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | South Carolina Department of Revenue | California Franchise Tax Board |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in California and working in South 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: South Carolina → CaliforniaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: South Carolina → CaliforniaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: South Carolina → CaliforniaTwo part-year returns
Other South Carolina pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in South Carolina and work remotely for a California employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. California levies no tax on wages; South Carolina taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single South Carolina resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
South Carolina. Your employer should withhold South Carolina tax rather than California tax on these wages. If a California line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my California employer's location alone create a California tax obligation?
No. California 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 California are a different matter — those are California-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The South Carolina and California rules on this page were last checked against South Carolina Department of Revenue and California Franchise Tax Board 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.
- South Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- California Franchise Tax Board — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07