Live in Virginia, Work in Texas: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Only Virginia taxes you. Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Texas return. Virginia taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Texas earnings go on a Virginia 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. Texas takes nothing, but Virginia still taxes residents on income earned anywhere, so the full amount lands on your Virginia return.
What you file
- 1Resident return · Virginia
File a Virginia resident return reporting all of your income.
The two states, side by side
| Virginia | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | Yes — graduated | No |
| Reciprocity partners | 5 (Form VA-4) | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Form 763 | Not applicable |
| Credit for other-state tax | Schedule OSC | No income tax |
| Nonresident safe harbour | None published | Not applicable |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Virginia Department of Taxation | Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Texas and working in Virginia 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: Virginia → TexasHome state only
- 1099 contractor: Virginia → TexasHome state only — estimated payments
- Moved mid-year: Virginia → TexasOne part-year return — the state you left
Other Virginia pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Virginia and work in Texas. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Only Virginia taxes you. Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld there and you file no Texas return. Virginia taxes its residents on all income wherever earned, which means your Texas earnings go on a Virginia resident return in full.
Which state should my employer be withholding for?
Virginia. Your employer should withhold Virginia tax rather than Texas tax on these wages. If a Texas line is showing on your pay stub, raise it with payroll now rather than at filing time.
How current is this?
The Virginia and Texas rules on this page were last checked against Virginia Department of Taxation and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 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.
- Virginia Department of Taxation — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia — Form VA-4accessed 2026-08-07
- Virginia Tax — Reciprocityaccessed 2026-08-07
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07