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 Virginia, work in Pennsylvania
Yes: a reciprocal agreement applies
- Reciprocal agreement
- Yes, named on both states' official pages
- Form for your employer
- Form REV-419, Employee's Nonwithholding Application Certificate, given to your employer in the work state. A resident of a reciprocal state working in Pennsylvania files it with the Pennsylvania employer, and the employer withholds the home state's tax instead.
- Where you likely file
- Resident return (Virginia): Under the agreement, the wages covered are taxed by the state you live in.
- Nonresident return, usually only for a refund (Pennsylvania): 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
- No Pennsylvania withholding is required when the employee files REV-419 with the Pennsylvania employer and the employer withholds and pays the tax of the employee's home state.
- Present in the other state 183 days or less, no abode there, and only wage or salary income there.
- Also know
- What the work state's agreement covers: Compensation for services performed in Pennsylvania by a resident of one of the six states.
In the official words
"The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has reciprocal agreements with the states of Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia."
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue: PA Personal Income Tax Guide, Income Subject to Tax Withholding
"Virginia has reciprocity with District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia."
Virginia Tax: Reciprocity
"REV-419, Employee's Nonwithholding Application Certificate [PDF] is filed by the employee with the Pennsylvania employer"
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue: PA Personal Income Tax Guide, Income Subject to Tax Withholding
This is a starting point, not a tax calculation. Check with a tax professional for your situation. More: Virginia reciprocity page · Pennsylvania 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.