Live in South Carolina, Work Remotely for a Wisconsin Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
South Carolina gets all of it. Because Wisconsin does not tax wage income, no Wisconsin withholding exists and no Wisconsin return is required — but South Carolina taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Wisconsin still belongs on your South 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. South Carolina reaches all of a resident's income, and Wisconsin adds nothing on top.
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 | Wisconsin | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 4 (Form W-220) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form SC1040 with Schedule NR | Form 1NPR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form SC1040TC | Schedule OS |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Dollar floor published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | South Carolina Department of Revenue | Wisconsin Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Wisconsin 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 → WisconsinBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: South Carolina → WisconsinHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: South Carolina → WisconsinTwo part-year returns
Other South Carolina pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in South Carolina and work remotely for a Wisconsin employer. Which state do I pay?
South Carolina gets all of it. Because Wisconsin does not tax wage income, no Wisconsin withholding exists and no Wisconsin return is required — but South Carolina taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Wisconsin still belongs on your South Carolina resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
South Carolina. Your employer should withhold South Carolina tax rather than Wisconsin tax on these wages. If a Wisconsin line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Wisconsin employer's location alone create a Wisconsin tax obligation?
No. Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin are a different matter — those are Wisconsin-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The South Carolina and Wisconsin rules on this page were last checked against South Carolina Department of Revenue and Wisconsin 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.
- South Carolina Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Wisconsin Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07