Live in Washington, Work Remotely for a Pennsylvania Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
One return, filed in Pennsylvania, with no relief. Washington taxes no wages, so the Pennsylvania nonresident return stands alone. Getting out from under it requires the employer to establish that your remote work is a business necessity, not your convenience.
Last verified
Moving to a no-income-tax state is the standard remote-work tax plan, and against a convenience-rule employer it is the one move that backfires. Pennsylvania keeps taxing the wages, and Washington no longer provides a return on which to claim relief.
Pennsylvania sources a nonresident's remote workdays to Pennsylvania when the employee works from home for their own convenience rather than at the employer's requirement. The reciprocal agreements override it: a New Jersey resident working remotely for a Pennsylvania employer owes Pennsylvania nothing.
The rule is not an administrative preference. Pennsylvania applies it under 61 Pa. Code §109.8, and the burden of showing that remote work is an employer necessity rather than an employee convenience falls on you and your employer, not on Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
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
- 1Nonresident return · PennsylvaniaForm PA-40 (nonresident)
File a Pennsylvania nonresident return. Washington does not tax wages, so there is no resident return and therefore no credit anywhere to offset the Pennsylvania tax — this is the worst version of the convenience rule.
The two states, side by side
| Washington | Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 6 (Form REV-419) |
| Convenience rule | No | Yes — general rule |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form PA-40 (nonresident) |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Schedule G-L |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Pennsylvania Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Pennsylvania 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 → PennsylvaniaWork state only
- 1099 contractor: Washington → PennsylvaniaClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Washington → PennsylvaniaOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Washington and work remotely for a Pennsylvania employer. Which state do I pay?
One return, filed in Pennsylvania, with no relief. Washington taxes no wages, so the Pennsylvania nonresident return stands alone. Getting out from under it requires the employer to establish that your remote work is a business necessity, not your convenience.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Pennsylvania. The wages are sourced to Pennsylvania, so Pennsylvania withholding is correct and there is no Washington withholding to set up, because Washington levies no income tax on wages.
Can I claim a credit for the Pennsylvania tax?
No, and that is what makes this case unusual. A credit for taxes paid to another state is claimed on a resident return, and Washington does not have one — it levies no personal income tax. The Pennsylvania tax is your final cost on this income unless your employer can establish that your remote work is a business necessity.
How current is this?
The Washington and Pennsylvania rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue 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.
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 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