Live in Texas, Work Remotely for a Nebraska Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
One return, filed in Nebraska, with no relief. Texas taxes no wages, so the Nebraska nonresident return stands alone. Getting out from under it requires the employer to establish that your remote work is a business necessity, not your convenience.
Last verified
Moving to a no-income-tax state is the standard remote-work tax plan, and against a convenience-rule employer it is the one move that backfires. Nebraska keeps taxing the wages, and Texas no longer provides a return on which to claim relief.
Nebraska sources the wages of a nonresident employee of a Nebraska employer to Nebraska unless the work is performed outside the state because the employer requires it. Working remotely by the employee's own choice does not break the Nebraska claim.
The rule is not an administrative preference. Nebraska applies it under Neb. Admin. Code tit. 316, ch. 22, §003, and the burden of showing that remote work is an employer necessity rather than an employee convenience falls on you and your employer, not on Nebraska Department of Revenue.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · NebraskaForm 1040N with Schedule III
File a Nebraska nonresident return. Texas does not tax wages, so there is no resident return and therefore no credit anywhere to offset the Nebraska tax — this is the worst version of the convenience rule.
The two states, side by side
| Texas | Nebraska | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | Yes — general rule |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form 1040N with Schedule III |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form 1040N Schedule II |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts | Nebraska Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Nebraska 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 → NebraskaWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Texas → NebraskaClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Texas → NebraskaOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Texas pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Texas and work remotely for a Nebraska employer. Which state do I pay?
One return, filed in Nebraska, with no relief. Texas taxes no wages, so the Nebraska nonresident return stands alone. Getting out from under it requires the employer to establish that your remote work is a business necessity, not your convenience.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Nebraska. The wages are sourced to Nebraska, so Nebraska withholding is correct and there is no Texas withholding to set up, because Texas levies no income tax on wages.
Can I claim a credit for the Nebraska tax?
No, and that is what makes this case unusual. A credit for taxes paid to another state is claimed on a resident return, and Texas does not have one — it levies no personal income tax. The Nebraska tax is your final cost on this income unless your employer can establish that your remote work is a business necessity.
How current is this?
The Texas and Nebraska rules on this page were last checked against Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Nebraska 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.
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Nebraska Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07