Live in South Dakota, Work Remotely for a New Mexico Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
New Mexico cannot follow the paycheck home. Because New Mexico sources wages to the place of performance and you perform them in South Dakota, the income is South Dakota-source; and South Dakota does not tax wages. The result is no state income tax on these earnings at all.
Last verified
Wages are sourced to the place where the work is physically performed. That default is what makes remote work simple, and it is only disturbed when the employer's state runs a convenience-of-the-employer rule. New Mexico does not.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either South Dakota or New Mexico on these wages. Your federal return is unaffected — the federal government taxes the income whatever the states do.
The two states, side by side
| South Dakota | New Mexico | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form PIT-1 with Schedule PIT-B |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form PIT-1 (credit for taxes paid to another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | South Dakota Department of Revenue | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in New Mexico and working in South Dakota 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 Dakota → New MexicoWork state only
- 1099 contractor: South Dakota → New MexicoClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: South Dakota → New MexicoOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other South Dakota pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in South Dakota and work remotely for a New Mexico employer. Which state do I pay?
New Mexico cannot follow the paycheck home. Because New Mexico sources wages to the place of performance and you perform them in South Dakota, the income is South Dakota-source; and South Dakota does not tax wages. The result is no state income tax on these earnings at all.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Neither. There is no state income tax to withhold on either side of this pairing, so a state line on your pay stub for South Dakota or New Mexico is an error worth querying.
Does my New Mexico employer's location alone create a New Mexico tax obligation?
No. New Mexico 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 New Mexico are a different matter — those are New Mexico-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The South Dakota and New Mexico rules on this page were last checked against South Dakota Department of Revenue and New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department 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 Dakota Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07