Live in Alaska, Work in Massachusetts: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
One return, filed in Massachusetts. Your employer withholds Massachusetts tax on the wages you earn there and you settle up on a Massachusetts nonresident return. Alaska does not tax wages, so this pair produces a single state filing rather than two.
Last verified
Living in a state with no income tax removes the resident return, but it does not shelter income you earn somewhere else. Massachusetts taxes what is earned inside Massachusetts, whoever earns it, and a nonresident return is how that gets settled.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · MassachusettsForm 1-NR/PY
File a Massachusetts nonresident return for the wages you earned in Massachusetts. Alaska has no wage income tax, so there is no second return and no credit to claim.
The two states, side by side
| Alaska | Massachusetts | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form 1-NR/PY |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Schedule OJC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division | Massachusetts Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Massachusetts and working in Alaska 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.
- Remote worker: Alaska → MassachusettsNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Alaska → MassachusettsClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Alaska → MassachusettsOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Alaska pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Alaska and work in Massachusetts. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
One return, filed in Massachusetts. Your employer withholds Massachusetts tax on the wages you earn there and you settle up on a Massachusetts nonresident return. Alaska does not tax wages, so this pair produces a single state filing rather than two.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Massachusetts. The wages are sourced to Massachusetts, so Massachusetts withholding is correct and there is no Alaska withholding to set up, because Alaska levies no income tax on wages.
How current is this?
The Alaska and Massachusetts rules on this page were last checked against Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division and Massachusetts 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.
- Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07