Live in South Dakota, Work in Massachusetts: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Massachusetts withholds, South Dakota does not. As a South Dakota resident you have no home-state income tax return at all, so the Massachusetts nonresident return is the whole of your state filing. Nothing offsets the Massachusetts tax, because a credit has to be claimed against a home-state tax that does not exist.
Last verified
This is the mirror image of the more common commute. There is no home-state return to file, so the Massachusetts nonresident return carries the whole obligation — and because South Dakota charges nothing, there is no credit mechanism involved anywhere.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · MassachusettsForm 1-NR/PY
File a Massachusetts nonresident return for the wages you earned in Massachusetts. South Dakota has no wage income tax, so there is no second return and no credit to claim.
The two states, side by side
| South Dakota | Massachusetts | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — flat |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form 1-NR/PY |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Schedule OJC |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | South Dakota Department of Revenue | Massachusetts Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Massachusetts and working in South Dakota 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: South Dakota → MassachusettsNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: South Dakota → MassachusettsClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: South Dakota → MassachusettsOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other South Dakota pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in South Dakota and work in Massachusetts. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Massachusetts withholds, South Dakota does not. As a South Dakota resident you have no home-state income tax return at all, so the Massachusetts nonresident return is the whole of your state filing. Nothing offsets the Massachusetts tax, because a credit has to be claimed against a home-state tax that does not exist.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Massachusetts. The wages are sourced to Massachusetts, so Massachusetts withholding is correct and there is no South Dakota withholding to set up, because South Dakota levies no income tax on wages.
How current is this?
The South Dakota and Massachusetts rules on this page were last checked against South Dakota Department of Revenue and Massachusetts 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.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07