Live in West Virginia, Work Remotely for a Louisiana Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Louisiana levies no tax on wages; West Virginia taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single West Virginia resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
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. West Virginia reaches all of a resident's income, and Louisiana adds nothing on top.
What you file
- 1Resident return · West Virginia
File a West Virginia resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| West Virginia | Louisiana | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form WV/IT-104) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IT-140 with Schedule A | Form IT-540B |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule E (Form IT-140) | Schedule G (Form IT-540) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | No |
| Revenue department | West Virginia Tax Division | Louisiana Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Louisiana and working in West 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: West Virginia → LouisianaBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: West Virginia → LouisianaHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: West Virginia → LouisianaTwo part-year returns
Other West Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in West Virginia and work remotely for a Louisiana employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Louisiana levies no tax on wages; West Virginia taxes residents on all income regardless of where it was earned. The result is a single West Virginia resident return covering the full amount, with no offsetting credit.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
West Virginia. Your employer should withhold West Virginia tax rather than Louisiana tax on these wages. If a Louisiana line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Louisiana employer's location alone create a Louisiana tax obligation?
No. Louisiana 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 Louisiana are a different matter — those are Louisiana-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The West Virginia and Louisiana rules on this page were last checked against West Virginia Tax Division and Louisiana 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.
- West Virginia Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Louisiana Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07