Live in Washington, Work Remotely for a Mississippi Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
No state taxes your wages. You perform the work in Washington, which levies no personal income tax, and Mississippi has no convenience-of-the-employer rule that could reach across the line at you. The employer's address in Mississippi creates no Mississippi liability on its own.
Last verified
An employer's address is not a tax nexus for its employees. Working from Washington keeps the income Washington-source, and since Washington levies no tax on wages, the income lands nowhere at all.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either Washington or Mississippi on these wages. Your federal return is unaffected — the federal government taxes the income whatever the states do.
The two states, side by side
| Washington | Mississippi | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form 80-205 |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form 80-160 |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Mississippi Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Mississippi and working in Washington 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: Washington → MississippiWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Washington → MississippiClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Washington → MississippiOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Washington and work remotely for a Mississippi employer. Which state do I pay?
No state taxes your wages. You perform the work in Washington, which levies no personal income tax, and Mississippi has no convenience-of-the-employer rule that could reach across the line at you. The employer's address in Mississippi creates no Mississippi liability on its own.
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 Washington or Mississippi is an error worth querying.
Does my Mississippi employer's location alone create a Mississippi tax obligation?
No. Mississippi 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 Mississippi are a different matter — those are Mississippi-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Washington and Mississippi rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue and Mississippi 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.
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Mississippi Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07