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Live in Massachusetts, Work in Utah: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?

Both states — credit offsets the double taxUtah withholds

Answer

Utah withholds and Massachusetts credits. Without an agreement between them, both states are entitled to tax income earned in Utah by a Massachusetts resident. The mechanism that stops you paying twice is the credit on the Massachusetts resident return, which is why the Utah return has to be completed first.

Last verified

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

A Massachusetts resident taxed by another state on the same income claims the credit for taxes paid to other states on Schedule OJC. The credit is capped at the Massachusetts 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 · UtahForm TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B

    File the Utah nonresident return FIRST — you need the Utah tax figure before you can complete Massachusetts.

  2. 2Resident return · MassachusettsSchedule OJC

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

The two states, side by side

 MassachusettsUtah
Taxes wagesYes — flatYes — flat
Reciprocity partnersNoneNone
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm 1-NR/PYForm TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B
Credit for other-state taxSchedule OJCSchedule TC-40S
Nonresident safe harbourNone publishedNone published
Local income taxNoNo
Revenue departmentMassachusetts Department of RevenueUtah State Tax Commission
Last verified

The other direction

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

Utah to Massachusetts →

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 Massachusetts pairs

Questions people actually ask

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

Utah withholds and Massachusetts credits. Without an agreement between them, both states are entitled to tax income earned in Utah by a Massachusetts resident. The mechanism that stops you paying twice is the credit on the Massachusetts resident return, which is why the Utah return has to be completed first.

Which state should my employer be withholding for?

Utah. The wages are sourced to Utah, so Utah withholding is correct and there is no Massachusetts 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. Massachusetts gives residents a credit for tax paid to Utah on the same income, claimed on Schedule OJC. The credit is capped at the Massachusetts tax on that income, so if Utah taxes it more heavily the excess is not refunded by either state.

How current is this?

The Massachusetts and Utah rules on this page were last checked against Massachusetts Department of Revenue and Utah State Tax Commission 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.