Live in Utah, Work Remotely for a South Dakota Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Utah gets all of it. Because South Dakota does not tax wage income, no South Dakota withholding exists and no South Dakota return is required — but Utah taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in South Dakota still belongs on your Utah 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. Utah reaches all of a resident's income, and South Dakota adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Utah
File a Utah resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Utah | South Dakota | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — flat | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule TC-40S | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Utah State Tax Commission | South Dakota Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in South Dakota and working in Utah gives:No state income tax on your wages.
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 → South DakotaHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Utah → South DakotaHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Utah → South DakotaOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Utah pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Utah and work remotely for a South Dakota employer. Which state do I pay?
Utah gets all of it. Because South Dakota does not tax wage income, no South Dakota withholding exists and no South Dakota return is required — but Utah taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in South Dakota still belongs on your Utah resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Utah. Your employer should withhold Utah tax rather than South Dakota tax on these wages. If a South Dakota line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Utah and South Dakota rules on this page were last checked against Utah State Tax Commission and South Dakota 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
- South Dakota Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07