Live in Utah, Work Remotely for a Louisiana Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Louisiana levies no tax on wages; Utah taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Utah 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. Louisiana takes nothing, but Utah still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Utah return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Utah
File a Utah resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Utah | Louisiana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B | Form IT-540B |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule TC-40S | Schedule G (Form IT-540) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Utah State Tax Commission | Louisiana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Louisiana and working in Utah 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: Utah → LouisianaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: Utah → LouisianaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Utah → LouisianaTwo part-year returns
Other Utah pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Utah and work remotely for a Louisiana employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Louisiana levies no tax on wages; Utah taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single Utah resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Utah. Your employer should withhold Utah tax rather than Louisiana tax on these wages. If a Louisiana line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Louisiana employer's location alone create a Louisiana tax obligation?
No. Louisiana 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 Louisiana are a different matter — those are Louisiana-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Utah and Louisiana rules on this page were last checked against Utah State Tax Commission and Louisiana 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.
- Utah State Tax Commission — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07