Live in Maine, Work in Washington: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Maine taxes the income and Washington cannot. Residency, not the location of the job, drives this answer: Maine reaches all of a resident's income, and Washington has no personal income tax to apply to the part earned inside its borders.
Last verified
The instinct that working in a no-tax state means paying no tax is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this niche. Washington 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 | Washington | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Washington State Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Washington 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 → WashingtonHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Maine → WashingtonHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Maine → WashingtonOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Maine pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Maine and work in Washington. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Maine taxes the income and Washington cannot. Residency, not the location of the job, drives this answer: Maine reaches all of a resident's income, and Washington has no personal income tax to apply to the part earned inside its borders.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Maine. Your employer should withhold Maine tax rather than Washington tax on these wages. If a Washington line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Maine and Washington rules on this page were last checked against Maine Revenue Services and Washington State 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
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07