State Remote Worker Taxes Needs High Court Resolution

Talking Tax

Though never popular with neighboring state officials, New York's tax on the income of out-of-state residents working for Empire state companies is being scrutinized more closely. A post-pandemic shift to remote work — as a choice by either the employee or employer — has meant that many former commuters rarely if ever set foot in a New York workplace.

There are winners and losers in the current situation and billions of dollars at stake. Officials in both New Jersey and Connecticut have recently revived efforts to keep their resident's income taxes within their own borders regardless of where the person works.

New York isn't expected to relinquish these revenues without a fight. The state got roughly 17% of its income tax revenue from non-residents in fiscal 2020.

On this episode of Talking Tax, our weekly podcast, podcast producer David Schultz talks with Andrew Silverman, a tax policy analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, about the particular dynamics of the tri-state region. Silverman also examines why the US Supreme Court opted not to weigh in on a similar challenge by New Hampshire to end a Massachusetts commuter tax in 2016, how remote work impacts what's called the "convenience-of-the-employer" rule, and why this disagreement between a number of states will be up to the high court resolve.

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