Live in West Virginia, Work Remotely for a Michigan Employer: Who Taxes You?
Answer
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Michigan 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
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Michigan takes nothing, but West Virginia still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your West Virginia return.
Michigan also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Two dozen Michigan cities levy their own income tax, Detroit among them, and the state reciprocal agreements do not cover city tax. A reciprocal-state resident working in Detroit still owes Detroit.
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 | Michigan | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form WV/IT-104) | 6 (Form MI-W4) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form IT-140 with Schedule A | Form MI-1040 with Schedule NR |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule E (Form IT-140) | Form MI-1040 (credit for income tax imposed by another state) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | None published |
| Local income tax | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue department | West Virginia Tax Division | Michigan Department of Treasury |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Michigan 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 → MichiganBoth states — credit offsets the double tax
- 1099 contractor: West Virginia → MichiganHome state, plus the client state if you work there
- Moved mid-year: West Virginia → MichiganTwo part-year returns
Other West Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in West Virginia and work remotely for a Michigan employer. Which state do I pay?
Your home state takes it and the work state does not. Michigan 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 Michigan tax on these wages. If a Michigan line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
Does my Michigan employer's location alone create a Michigan tax obligation?
No. Michigan 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 Michigan are a different matter — those are Michigan-source income and can require a nonresident return.
How current is this?
The West Virginia and Michigan rules on this page were last checked against West Virginia Tax Division and Michigan Department of Treasury 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
- Michigan Department of Treasury — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07