Live in Alaska, Work in Ohio: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
One return, filed in Ohio. Your employer withholds Ohio tax on the wages you earn there and you settle up on a Ohio nonresident return. Alaska does not tax wages, so this pair produces a single state filing rather than two.
Last verified
This is the mirror image of the more common commute. There is no home-state return to file, so the Ohio nonresident return carries the whole obligation — and because Alaska charges nothing, there is no credit mechanism involved anywhere.
Ohio also has a layer below the state one, and it is the layer that survives every agreement: Ohio has the densest local income tax in the country: several hundred municipalities levy a municipal income tax, and many school districts levy their own on top. Neither is covered by the reciprocal agreements. A Pennsylvania resident working in Columbus pays no Ohio state tax and full Columbus city tax.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · OhioForm IT 1040 with Schedule IT NRC
File a Ohio nonresident return for the wages you earned in Ohio. Alaska has no wage income tax, so there is no second return and no credit to claim.
The two states, side by side
| Alaska | Ohio | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | 5 (Form IT 4NR) |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form IT 1040 with Schedule IT NRC |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Ohio Schedule of Credits (resident credit) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | Yes |
| Revenue department | Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division | Ohio Department of Taxation |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Ohio 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 → OhioNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Alaska → OhioClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Alaska → OhioOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Alaska pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Alaska and work in Ohio. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
One return, filed in Ohio. Your employer withholds Ohio tax on the wages you earn there and you settle up on a Ohio 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?
Ohio. The wages are sourced to Ohio, so Ohio 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 Ohio rules on this page were last checked against Alaska Department of Revenue — Tax Division and Ohio Department of Taxation 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
- Ohio Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Ohio — Form IT 4NRaccessed 2026-08-07