Live in Washington, Work in Kansas: Which State Taxes Your Paycheck?
Answer
Kansas withholds, Washington does not. As a Washington resident you have no home-state income tax return at all, so the Kansas nonresident return is the whole of your state filing. Nothing offsets the Kansas tax, because a credit has to be claimed against a home-state tax that does not exist.
Last verified
Living in a state with no income tax removes the resident return, but it does not shelter income you earn somewhere else. Kansas taxes what is earned inside Kansas, whoever earns it, and a nonresident return is how that gets settled.
What you file
- 1Nonresident return · KansasForm K-40 with Schedule S Part B
File a Kansas nonresident return for the wages you earned in Kansas. Washington has no wage income tax, so there is no second return and no credit to claim.
The two states, side by side
| Washington | Kansas | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes wages | No | Yes — graduated |
| Reciprocity partners | None | None |
| Convenience rule | No | No |
| Nonresident return | Not applicable | Form K-40 with Schedule S Part B |
| Credit for other-state tax | No income tax | Form K-40 (credit for taxes paid to other states) |
| Nonresident safe harbour | Not applicable | None published |
| Local income tax | No | No |
| Revenue department | Washington State Department of Revenue | Kansas Department of Revenue |
| Last verified |
The other direction
Reversing the commute does not always reverse the answer. Living in Kansas and working in Washington 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: Washington → KansasNo state income tax on your wages
- 1099 contractor: Washington → KansasClient state only, if you work there
- Moved mid-year: Washington → KansasOne part-year return — the state you moved to
Other Washington pairs
Questions people actually ask
I live in Washington and work in Kansas. Which state takes the tax out of my paycheck?
Kansas withholds, Washington does not. As a Washington resident you have no home-state income tax return at all, so the Kansas nonresident return is the whole of your state filing. Nothing offsets the Kansas 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?
Kansas. The wages are sourced to Kansas, so Kansas withholding is correct and there is no Washington withholding to set up, because Washington levies no income tax on wages.
How current is this?
The Washington and Kansas rules on this page were last checked against Washington State Department of Revenue and Kansas 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.
- Washington State Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07
- Kansas Department of Revenue — individual income taxaccessed 2026-08-07