How it works. Pick the state you live in and the state you work in. You'll see whether the two have a reciprocal agreement, the exemption form to give your employer, the returns you likely file, and the official wording behind each answer.
Check your two states
Live in Maryland, work in West Virginia
Yes: a reciprocal agreement applies
- Reciprocal agreement
- Yes, named on both states' official pages
- Form for your employer
- Form WV/IT-104NR, West Virginia Certificate of Nonresidence, given to your employer in the work state. A resident of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Virginia gives it to the employer, which can then stop West Virginia withholding. The employee must tell the employer within ten days after becoming a West Virginia resident.
- Where you likely file
- Resident return (Maryland): Under the agreement, the wages covered are taxed by the state you live in.
- Nonresident return, usually only for a refund (West Virginia): If work-state tax was withheld before the form was on file, or you have other income from the work state, a nonresident return there gets the withholding back or reports that income.
- Conditions
- Residents of the five states are exempt from West Virginia withholding when their only West Virginia income is wages or salaries.
- The West Virginia agreement applies regardless of how long the nonresident keeps a place of abode or is present in the other state.
- Also know
- What the work state's agreement covers: Wages and salaries, when that is the employee's only West Virginia income.
In the official words
"The employee is a bona-fide resident of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Virginia"
West Virginia Tax Division: TSD-381, Withholding Information for Employers
"Maryland has written reciprocal agreements with Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia."
Comptroller of Maryland: Income Tax Administrative Release No. 3, reciprocal income tax agreements
"I hereby certify, under penalties provided by law, that I am not a resident of West Virginia"
West Virginia Tax Division: TSD-381, Withholding Information for Employers
This is a starting point, not a tax calculation. Check with a tax professional for your situation. More: Maryland reciprocity page · West Virginia reciprocity page
Reading the answer
"Yes: a reciprocal agreement applies" means both states' revenue pages name each other. Your wages are then taxed at home, and the form shown tells the work-state employer not to withhold for its state. "No reciprocal agreement" is the common case: the work state taxes what you earn there, and your home state's credit for taxes paid to other states keeps the same pay from being fully taxed twice.
The full list of pairs and forms is on the reciprocity agreements by state page.
General information, not tax advice. Checked November 2026 against the official state pages quoted in each answer. Agreements, forms and thresholds change, and your own facts (where you lived, where you worked each day, other income) decide the answer; check with a tax professional for your situation. MCC Solutions is not a CPA firm and is not affiliated with any tax agency.
Questions about the checker
What counts as my home state?
The state where you're a resident for income tax, usually where you live and plan to stay. Several agreements add a test: Maryland's and Virginia's look at days present and whether you keep a home in the work state, Minnesota's asks that you return home at least once a month, and Kentucky's doesn't apply if you live in Kentucky more than 183 days.
Which state is my work state if I work from home?
Usually the state where you physically do the work. A few states treat remote days as days at the employer's office when you work remotely for your own convenience; New York, Nebraska and Delaware describe this, and New Jersey and Connecticut apply theirs to residents of states with a similar rule.
Why does it say 'where you likely file'?
Because the right returns depend on facts the checker doesn't see: other income from the work state, a move during the year, days in each state, and local taxes. It shows the usual returns for wages under the two states' rules.
What if I work in three or more states?
Run the checker once for each work state with your home state. Keep a day-by-day log of where you worked; nonresident returns and convenience rules are argued from days.
Does the checker store what I pick?
No. The two states travel in the page address only, so a link such as ?home=nj&work=pa opens the same answer, and it works without JavaScript.