Live in Texas, Work Remotely for a Michigan Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Nothing is owed on either side. Texas has no wage income tax, and Michigan taxes nonresidents only on work actually performed inside Michigan. Never setting foot in Michigan keeps the income entirely outside its reach, so this pair produces no state return at all.
Last verified
An employer's address is not a tax nexus for its employees. Working from Texas keeps the income Texas-source, and since Texas levies no tax on wages, the income lands nowhere at all.
Michigan also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Two dozen Michigan cities levy their own income tax, Detroit among them, and the state reciprocal agreements do not cover city tax. A reciprocal-state resident working in Detroit still owes Detroit.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either Texas or Michigan on these wages. Your federal return is unaffected — the federal government taxes the income whatever the states do.
The two states, side by side
| Texas | Michigan | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 6 (Form MI-W4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form MI-1040 with Schedule NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form MI-1040 (credit for income tax imposed by another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | Michigan Department of Treasury |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Michigan and working in Texas 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: Texas → MichiganWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Texas → MichiganClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Texas → MichiganOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Texas pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Texas and work remotely for a Michigan employer. Which state do I pay?
Nothing is owed on either side. Texas has no wage income tax, and Michigan taxes nonresidents only on work actually performed inside Michigan. Never setting foot in Michigan keeps the income entirely outside its reach, so this pair produces no state return 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 Texas or Michigan is an error worth querying.
Does my Michigan employer's location alone create a Michigan tax obligation?
No. Michigan 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 Michigan are a different matter — those are Michigan-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Texas and Michigan rules on this page were last checked against Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Michigan Department of Treasury 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.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Michigan Department of Treasury — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07