Live in Virginia, Work Remotely for a Pennsylvania Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Virginia gets all of it. Because Pennsylvania does not tax wage income, no Pennsylvania withholding exists and no Pennsylvania return is required — but Virginia taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Pennsylvania still belongs on your Virginia resident return.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Pennsylvania takes nothing, but Virginia still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Virginia return.
Pennsylvania also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Pennsylvania's Act 32 earned income tax is levied by municipalities and school districts across the state, and Philadelphia levies its own wage tax on residents and on nonresidents who work in the city. None of it is covered by the reciprocal agreements, and Philadelphia's nonresident wage tax applies from the first dollar.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Virginia
File a Virginia resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Virginia | Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form VA-4) | 6 (Form REV-419) |
| Convenience rule | No | Yes — general rule |
| Nonresident return | Form 763 | Form PA-40 (nonresident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule OSC | Schedule G-L |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Virginia Department of Taxation | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Pennsylvania and working in Virginia 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: Virginia → PennsylvaniaReciprocal agreement — file the exemption form
- 1099 contractor: Virginia → PennsylvaniaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Virginia → PennsylvaniaTwo part-year returns
Other Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Virginia and work remotely for a Pennsylvania employer. Which state do I pay?
Virginia gets all of it. Because Pennsylvania does not tax wage income, no Pennsylvania withholding exists and no Pennsylvania return is required — but Virginia taxes residents on worldwide income, so every dollar earned in Pennsylvania still belongs on your Virginia resident return.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Virginia. Your employer should withhold Virginia tax rather than Pennsylvania tax on these wages. If a Pennsylvania line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Pennsylvania employer's location alone create a Pennsylvania tax obligation?
No. Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania are a different matter — those are Pennsylvania-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Virginia and Pennsylvania rules on this page were last checked against Virginia Department of Taxation and Pennsylvania 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.
- Virginia Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia — Form VA-4accessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Tax — Reciprocityaccessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania — Form REV-419accessed 2026-08-07
- Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Guide — Income Subject to Tax Withholdingaccessed 2026-08-07