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Live in Louisiana, Work in Illinois: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?

Both states — credit offsets the double taxIllinois withholds

Answer

Both states tax the same wages, and a credit undoes the overlap. Illinois withholds as your work state and you file a Illinois nonresident return; Louisiana taxes residents on all income, so you also file at home and claim the credit for tax paid to Illinois. File Illinois first.

Last verified

Without an agreement between Louisiana and Illinois, the overlap is handled after the fact rather than prevented. That is why the filing order matters: the Illinois figure is an input to the Louisiana return, so completing Louisiana first means doing it twice.

A Louisiana resident taxed by another state on the same income claims the credit for taxes paid to other states on Schedule G (Form IT-540). The credit is capped at the Louisiana tax on that income, so it removes the double tax but never refunds the excess when the other state charges more.

What you file

  1. 1Nonresident return · IllinoisForm IL-1040 with Schedule NR

    File the Illinois nonresident return FIRST — you need the Illinois tax figure before you can complete Louisiana.

  2. 2Resident return · LouisianaSchedule G (Form IT-540)

    File a Louisiana resident return reporting all income, then claim the credit for tax paid to Illinois. The credit is capped at what Louisiana would have charged on that same income, so if Illinois taxes it at a higher rate the difference is not refunded.

The two states, side by side

 LouisianaIllinois
Taxes wagesYes — flatYes — flat
Reciprocity partnersNone4 (Form IL-W-5-NR)
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm IT-540BForm IL-1040 with Schedule NR
Credit for other-state taxSchedule G (Form IT-540)Schedule CR
Nonresident safe harbourNone published30 days
Local income taxNoNo
Revenue departmentLouisiana Department of RevenueIllinois Department of Revenue
Last verified

The other direction

Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Illinois and working in Louisiana gives:Both states — credit offsets the double tax.

Illinois to Louisiana →

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.

Other Louisiana pairs

Questions people actually ask

I live in Louisiana and work in Illinois. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?

Both states tax the same wages, and a credit undoes the overlap. Illinois withholds as your work state and you file a Illinois nonresident return; Louisiana taxes residents on all income, so you also file at home and claim the credit for tax paid to Illinois. File Illinois first.

Which state should my employer be withholding for?

Illinois. The wages are sourced to Illinois, so Illinois withholding is correct and there is no Louisiana withholding to set up.

Will I end up paying tax twice on the same income?

Not twice over, but you will pay the higher of the two rates. Louisiana gives residents a credit for tax paid to Illinois on the same income, claimed on Schedule G (Form IT-540). The credit is capped at the Louisiana tax on that income, so if Illinois taxes it more heavily the excess is not refunded by either state.

How current is this?

The Louisiana and Illinois rules on this page were last checked against Louisiana Department of Revenue and Illinois 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.