Pennsylvania Reciprocal Income Tax Agreements (NJ, OH, MD, VA, WV, IN)

Last updated May 18, 2026

·Independent Pennsylvania tax education

Pennsylvania has personal income tax reciprocal agreements with six neighboring states: New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana. The mechanics are straightforward — your wages are taxed by your home state, not the state you work in — but the limits matter. Reciprocity covers wages only, not local taxes, and not the Philadelphia wage tax. Getting the withholding right at the start of each job is most of the battle.

Key takeaways

Pennsylvania has reciprocal personal income tax agreements with New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana.
Reciprocity means employees pay PA tax only on PA-resident wages; out-of-state residents pay their home state's tax on PA-source wages.
Reciprocity covers wages only — not interest, dividends, rental, business, or capital gains income.
Reciprocity does not cover local taxes — Philadelphia wage tax and PA local earned income tax still apply.
PA Form REV-419 stops PA employer withholding for an out-of-state resident covered by reciprocity.

Which states have agreements with PA

Pennsylvania has bilateral personal income tax reciprocal agreements with the following six states:

New Jersey
Ohio
Maryland
Virginia
West Virginia
Indiana

Each agreement covers wage and salary income for residents of one state working in the other. No other states currently have reciprocal agreements with Pennsylvania.

How reciprocity actually works

Two scenarios, mirroring each other:

You live in PA, work in a reciprocal state. Your wages are taxable by Pennsylvania (your home state), not the work state. File the work state's nonwithholding form with your out-of-state employer so they stop withholding the work state's tax.
You live in a reciprocal state, work in PA. Your wages are taxable by your home state, not Pennsylvania. File PA Form REV-419 with your PA employer so they stop withholding PA tax. File your home state's nonwithholding form (e.g., NJ-165) if your employer also handles your home state withholding.

What reciprocity covers — and what it doesn't

Reciprocity is narrow:

Covers: wages, salaries, commissions, tips — earned income from an employer.
Does not cover: interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income, business income, gambling income.
Does not cover: local taxes (Philadelphia wage tax, PA local earned income tax, other local levies).
Does not cover: independent contractor / 1099 income — reciprocity is about wage taxation.

Non-wage PA-source income still requires you to file as a PA nonresident. See our PA nonresident filing guide for those mechanics.

REV-419 — stopping PA withholding when you live elsewhere

PA Form REV-419 is the Employee's Nonwithholding Application Certificate. A resident of a reciprocal state working in PA files REV-419 with the PA employer to stop PA state tax withholding. The form is filed once and remains in effect until the employee's residency changes.

Without REV-419, the PA employer will withhold PA tax. The employee can still recover those amounts by filing a PA nonresident return claiming a refund, but it's extra paperwork every year.

The Philadelphia wage tax gotcha

Philadelphia wage tax is administered by the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue. Out-of-state residents pay the nonresident wage tax rate; Philadelphia residents pay the resident rate. Confirm the current rates with the City.

The PA local EIT gotcha

The Pennsylvania local earned income tax (EIT) is a separate municipal-and-school-district tax. Whether you owe EIT and to which collector depends on where you live and work, and the rules can be intricate. Out-of-state residents working in PA may owe PA local EIT depending on the municipality in which they work, even when reciprocity exempts them from PA state tax.

Use the PA Municipal Statistics rate lookup to identify the correct rate and collector for each work location.

What to do if withholding went wrong

If withholding was taken by the wrong state for an entire year:

File a nonresident return with the state that wrongly withheld, claiming a refund.
File a resident return with your home state, paying the tax that should have been withheld.
Going forward, file the appropriate nonwithholding form (PA REV-419, NJ-165, etc.) with your employer.

The net result is the same total tax — you just have to chase the refund and pay the underpayment.

Telecommuting and remote work

Where you physically perform the work usually determines withholding. A PA resident telecommuting full-time from a PA home office for a NJ employer is generally taxed by PA — even though the employer's office is in NJ — because the work itself happens in PA. The reverse is also true. Hybrid schedules add complexity. Document your work location by day in case of state inquiry, and confirm the employer's payroll setup matches reality.

Best practices

Identify your domicile clearly — that determines which state's tax applies to your wages under reciprocity.
File the appropriate nonwithholding form (PA REV-419, NJ-165, etc.) with each employer as soon as you start work.
Track other PA-source income separately — reciprocity covers wages only.
If you work in Philadelphia, plan for the Philadelphia wage tax in addition to your home state's tax.
Keep copies of every state's withholding records and your residency documentation in case of state inquiry.

Common mistakes

Assuming reciprocity eliminates all state taxes — it covers only wage income.
Forgetting that Philadelphia wage tax still applies to anyone working in Philadelphia.
Failing to file the nonwithholding form and ending up with refund-and-payment paperwork every April.
Treating a 1099 contractor relationship as covered by reciprocity — agreements cover wages, not independent contractor income.
Letting telecommuting blur the line — physical work location often determines withholding.

Official Pennsylvania sources

PA reciprocal income tax agreements
Pennsylvania's reciprocal personal income tax agreements with New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana.
PA Form REV-419 — Employee's Nonwithholding Application
Form an employee files with a PA employer to stop PA withholding under a reciprocal agreement.
PA Personal Income Tax
PA personal income tax rules, forms, and instructions.
City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue
Philadelphia-specific taxes (wage, BIRT, NPT, real estate).
PA Municipal Statistics — local earned income tax rates
Look up the local earned income tax (EIT) rate for any PA address.

Frequently asked questions

Which states have reciprocal agreements with Pennsylvania?

New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana. Each agreement covers personal income tax on wage and salary income for residents of one state working in the other.

If I live in NJ and work in PA, do I owe PA income tax on my wages?

Under the PA-NJ reciprocal agreement, a NJ resident working in PA pays NJ income tax on those wages, not PA. File PA Form REV-419 with your PA employer to stop PA state withholding. Note that reciprocity does not cover Philadelphia wage tax or PA local EIT.

If I live in PA and work in NJ, do I owe NJ income tax?

Under the agreement, a PA resident working in NJ pays PA income tax on those wages, not NJ. File NJ Form NJ-165 with your NJ employer to stop NJ withholding.

Does reciprocity cover Philadelphia city wage tax?

No. Reciprocity covers state personal income tax only. The Philadelphia wage tax is a local tax administered by the City of Philadelphia and applies to anyone earning wages in Philadelphia, regardless of where they live or whether their state has reciprocity with PA.

What if my employer withheld the wrong state's tax all year?

File a nonresident return with the state that wrongly withheld, claiming a refund of the withholding. File a resident return with your home state, paying the tax you owe. Future years: file the appropriate nonwithholding form (REV-419 in PA, NJ-165 in NJ, etc.) with your employer to prevent it from happening again.

Next read

PA Nonresident Filing

Reciprocity covers wages but not all PA-source income. If you work across the PA border and have rental or business income on either side, the nonresident filing rules are the next thing to understand.

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Explanation

Strong coverage of PA's six reciprocal agreements, the REV-419 form, and the local-tax gotchas (Philadelphia wage tax, PA EIT) that reciprocity does not cover.

Suggested improvements

Add expert review from a PA-licensed CPA who handles cross-border filings.
Add state-by-state worked examples.
Add a downloadable cross-border filer checklist.

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