# Working in Across USA: Is This Law? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099 "2011-10-19T02:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/1 "2011-10-19T02:19:11Z")
I work for a contractor where we often work in other states. Lately, we were told state income taxes will be held for any US State in which we worked for more than 20 hrs. The company policy says this is in anticipation of the Federal gov passing such a law. First, I never heard of this. Wouldn’t this be big news? The Feds passing such a law helping the States’ get income tax??? I can’t believe this would pass! Talk about BIG GOV! Next, if anything, I believe the typ. requirement for most States is a 6 month threshold to be considered a “temporary resident”. How can I go about researching if such a bill or law even exists? Esp if it is a bill, that’s pretty gutsy of my employer to start withholding income for what might be! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/2 "2011-10-19T02:33:08Z")
I don’t know answers to your questions, but where I work, we have to record which state we worked in when on travel. It doesn’t affect my pay, and I don’t file taxes in other states (so far, anyway). I _think_ the company does have to itemize how much pay is in different states, and pay taxes based on that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/3 "2011-10-19T03:41:58Z")
I thought that was the law. I know a couple of people who have state taxes withheld for each state they work in. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/4 "2011-10-19T03:43:24Z")
Professional athletes routinely have to file income taxes in dozens of states every year. But they make more money than most people. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/5 "2011-10-19T04:11:55Z")
I don’t know about any federal law, but most states expect taxes to be paid on income on work in that state. (Not the same as residence.) Some adjacent states have reciprocity agreements. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/6 "2011-10-19T09:32:31Z")
One of our Minnesota Senators, Al Franken, used to be an entertainer, and performed in various states. His accountant prepared his taxes, and reported all his income on his Minnesota state taxes, which is where he resided. During the campaign, his opponents attacked him for this, saying that he should have filed taxes in each of the states where he performed. Apparently correct, as his accountant re-filed his taxes that way. Franken ended up paying **less taxes** as a result; many of those states had a lower income tax than in Minnesota. So he got a refund. Possibly he used some of that refund to help win his election campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/7 "2011-10-19T09:34:37Z")
It’s not that you’re a temporary resident, it’s that you earned money in that state. For years I lived in Indiana and worked in Illinois. I paid state taxes in both. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/8 "2011-10-19T13:17:05Z")
It’s a state issue, not a federal one, and [its nothing new](https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Tax-Planning-and-Checklists/Multiple-States---Where-To-File/INF12054.html). Most states have a minimum threshold, so that if you make a single business trip you don’t need to file. if you’re working more than 20 hours in multiple states, you ought to consult an accountant or at least use some good tax software to help sort this out. There’s the issue of what you owe, but more importatntly, the issue of what you don’t owe. If your employer is withholding for multiple states, you may be entitled to multiple refunds. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/9 "2011-10-19T14:48:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It’s not that you’re a temporary resident, it’s that you earned money in that state. For years I lived in Indiana and worked in Illinois. I paid state taxes in both. Similarly, the year that I was a Wisconsin resident attending and working at a University of Minnesota school (the two states have a tuition reciprocity agreement, where the student is charged the in-state student rate), and then moved to Illinois and got a job there, I had three states to file in. I had a professional deal with that. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/10 "2011-10-19T17:19:42Z")
It varies by state and from time to time. Some years ago I worked at a company that had offices in both NJ and in Manhattan. Suddenly we were advised to NEVER go to a business meeting across the Hudson. If you did, you had worked in both states, and your entire salary and that of your spouse if filing jointly became fully taxable in both states. Yikes. I don’t know if that’s still the case between NY & NJ. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/11 "2011-10-19T17:30:55Z")
The OP’s employer could be possibly held liable for not withholding tax and remitting it to the proper states for employees working within the boundaries of those particular states. The employer is attempting to comply with the law. For the OP, you’ll just have to file state tax returns in more than one state. For people that work across many state boundaries this is a common requirement…see athletes and entertainers references above. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/12 "2011-10-19T18:42:56Z")
There’ve always been rules about paying tax to the state where you worked, even if your residence is elsewhere. Some states have reciprocity agreements (e.g. I live in Virginia but could commute to Maryland). What the cutoff is, I’m not sure. I know that when I commuted to New York City (there during work week, home on weekends), my income for that entire time was taxed to New York city AND state. I’ve been working for a consulting firm for 23 years now and my timesheets always had to have a location code (might be as broad as the state, might be as specific as the city or county), presumably for such purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/13 "2011-10-19T18:46:14Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > It varies by state and from time to time. Some years ago I worked at a company that had offices in both NJ and in Manhattan. Suddenly we were advised to NEVER go to a business meeting across the Hudson. If you did, you had worked in both states, and your entire salary and that of your spouse if filing jointly became fully taxable in both states. Yikes. I don’t know if that’s still the case between NY & NJ. That’s no completely correct - only the NYC-earned portion of our income was taxed to New York. How that was figured out, I don’t recall (it’s been 18 years). Possibly they DID add everything together, calculate the tax, and take a percentage based on what portion was NY-earned - e.g. if I earned 60,000 in NYC and my spouse earned 40,000, maybe we had taxable income of 100,000 but only had to pay 60% of the tax. Or maybe we just had to pay NYC taxes as if the entire income was 60,000. Subtle but as the 100,000 would be presumably in a higher bracket, it would be better to pay on 60K total, than 60% of 100K’s tax. Anyway - we did NOT have to pay full NYC taxes on the full income. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/14 "2011-10-19T19:34:37Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > I don’t know about any federal law, but most states expect taxes to be paid on income on work in that state. (Not the same as residence.) Some adjacent states have reciprocity agreements. It’s a complicated section of law. I know that when I was on tour with a theatre company, I owed taxes to Massachusetts, where the company was based, not to each state that I worked in. I spent no more than three weeks in Massachusetts (rehearsal and a couple of shows) but that’s where I owed the taxes. I am aware of no Federal laws that cover this. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/15 "2011-10-20T16:47:28Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > That’s no completely correct - only the NYC-earned portion of our income was taxed to New York. > > How that was figured out, I don’t recall (it’s been 18 years). Possibly they DID add everything together, calculate the tax, and take a percentage based on what portion was NY-earned - e.g. if I earned 60,000 in NYC and my spouse earned 40,000, maybe we had taxable income of 100,000 but only had to pay 60% of the tax. > > Or maybe we just had to pay NYC taxes as if the entire income was 60,000. Subtle but as the 100,000 would be presumably in a higher bracket, it would be better to pay on 60K total, than 60% of 100K’s tax. > > Anyway - we did NOT have to pay full NYC taxes on the full income. It was the case for at least a brief time in the past, though. We were advised of this in no uncertain terms by people in a position to know – and this was a financial services company. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/working-in-across-usa-is-this-law/600099/16 "2011-10-20T17:45:00Z")
I’m in California working for a large company. Every year I have to sign an attestation that I will or won’t work more than 10 days in New York City. If I say I won’t, no taxes are withheld for NYC. If I say I will then they are withheld. If I say I won’t and then do, I am on my own. But this is the only such form I have to sign, I don’t have to do it for any of the other states or localities where I might go work.