Live in Washington, Work Remotely for a Missouri Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Nothing is owed on either side. Washington has no wage income tax, and Missouri taxes nonresidents only on work actually performed inside Missouri. Never setting foot in Missouri keeps the income entirely outside its reach, so this pair produces no state return at all.
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.
Missouri also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Kansas City and St. Louis each levy a one per cent earnings tax on wages earned inside the city, collected by the city. Nonresidents pay it on the portion of work performed there.
What you file
There is nothing to file in either Washington or Missouri 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 | Missouri | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form MO-1040 with Form MO-NRI |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form MO-CR |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Missouri Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Missouri 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 → MissouriWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Washington → MissouriClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Washington → MissouriOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Washington and work remotely for a Missouri employer. Which state do I pay?
Nothing is owed on either side. Washington has no wage income tax, and Missouri taxes nonresidents only on work actually performed inside Missouri. Never setting foot in Missouri keeps the income entirely outside its reach, so this pair produces no state return at all.
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 Missouri is an error worth querying.
Does my Missouri employer's location alone create a Missouri tax obligation?
No. Missouri 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 Missouri are a different matter — those are Missouri-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The Washington and Missouri rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue and Missouri 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
- Missouri Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07