Skip to content
statelinetax.comChecker

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

Both states — credit offsets the double taxUtah withholds

Answer

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

Last verified

Two states can lawfully tax the same wages: Utah because the work happened there, West Virginia because you live there. Nothing prevents the overlap in advance — it is unwound afterwards, on the West Virginia return, through the credit for taxes paid to another state.

A West Virginia resident taxed by another state on the same income claims the credit for taxes paid to other states on Schedule E (Form IT-140). The credit is capped at the West Virginia 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 West Virginia.

  2. 2Resident return · West VirginiaSchedule E (Form IT-140)

    File a West Virginia resident return reporting all income, then claim the credit for tax paid to Utah. The credit is capped at what West Virginia 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

 West VirginiaUtah
Taxes wagesYes — graduatedYes — flat
Reciprocity partners5 (Form WV/IT-104)None
Convenience ruleNoNo
Nonresident returnForm IT-140 with Schedule AForm TC-40 with Schedule TC-40B
Credit for other-state taxSchedule E (Form IT-140)Schedule TC-40S
Nonresident safe harbourNone publishedNone published
Local income taxYesNo
Revenue departmentWest Virginia Tax DivisionUtah State Tax Commission
Last verified

The other direction

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

Utah to West Virginia →

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 West Virginia pairs

Questions people actually ask

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

Utah withholds and West Virginia credits. Without an agreement between them, both states are entitled to tax income earned in Utah by a West Virginia resident. The mechanism that stops you paying twice is the credit on the West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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. West Virginia gives residents a credit for tax paid to Utah on the same income, claimed on Schedule E (Form IT-140). The credit is capped at the West Virginia tax on that income, so if Utah taxes it more heavily the excess is not refunded by either state.

How current is this?

The West Virginia and Utah rules on this page were last checked against West Virginia Tax Division 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.