Live in Maine, Work in Tennessee: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Only Maine taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. Maine taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a Maine resident return in full.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Tennessee takes nothing, but Maine still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Maine return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Maine
File a Maine resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Maine | Tennessee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 1040ME with Schedule NR | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Form 1040ME Schedule A | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | 12 days or a dollar floor | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Maine Revenue Services | Tennessee Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Tennessee and working in Maine gives:Work 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: Maine → TennesseeHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Maine → TennesseeHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Maine → TennesseeOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Maine pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Maine and work in Tennessee. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Only Maine taxes you. Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Tennessee return. Maine taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Tennessee earnings go on a Maine resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Maine. Your employer should withhold Maine tax rather than Tennessee tax on these wages. If a Tennessee line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Maine and Tennessee rules on this page were last checked against Maine Revenue Services and Tennessee 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.
- Maine Revenue Services — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07