Why You'll Usually File Two State Returns
If you live in one state and work in another during the year, you'll typically file two state returns: a non-resident return for the state where you worked (paying tax on income earned there) and a resident return for your home state (paying tax on everything else). Your home state then gives a credit for taxes paid to the other state, so you're not taxed twice on the same dollar.
The 'Convenience of the Employer' Rule
Delaware, Nebraska, New York, and Pennsylvania apply a full 'convenience of the employer' rule — they tax remote workers based on the employer's location, not where the employee actually worked. Connecticut and New Jersey apply narrower, reciprocal versions that only affect residents of other convenience-rule states. This is exactly the kind of double-taxation trap a travel nurse remotely working for a NY-based agency while physically in Texas can fall into — and because this area shifts with ongoing litigation and legislation, always check current rules before accepting a contract, not just what applied last year.
States With No Wage Tax at All
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming don't tax wages. If your tax home is in one of these, contracts in other states still owe non-resident tax there, but you avoid a resident-state tax bill entirely — which is exactly why many travel nurses deliberately maintain a Florida or Texas tax home.
File in the Right Order or You'll Overpay Twice
Always file the non-resident state returns first. You need those exact numbers — tax actually paid to other states — to claim the credit on your resident return. File in the wrong order and you'll owe double until you amend, which is slower and more expensive than getting the sequence right the first time.
Let SUNY Do the State-Tagging for You
SUNY tags every income entry by the state it was earned in as you log it, so at tax time you can hand your CPA a clean, pre-sorted packet instead of reconstructing a year of assignments from memory.