Crossing a state line into or out of Idaho

Idaho taxes its residents on income earned anywhere, and taxes non-residents on work done inside it. Which return you file depends on which direction you commute.

Idaho borders 6 states. They fall into 2 different situations, and which one applies decides whether you file one return or two.

Where you file a nonresident return and claim a credit

Idaho has no agreement with Montana, Oregon and Utah. Work in one of these and you file a nonresident return there, report the same income again to Idaho, and claim a credit for what you already paid. The credit is capped at your Idaho liability, so you are not taxed twice, the combined bill lands at roughly the higher of the two rates. On $70,000, Oregon costs the most at $4,833 and Montana the least at $3,710, $1,123 between them.

Work state	Its tax	Idaho after credit	Total	Rate that governs
Montana	$2,927	$784	$3,710	Idaho
Oregon	$4,833	$0	$4,833	Oregon
Utah	$3,150	$560	$3,710	Idaho

Where the work state takes nothing

Nevada, Washington and Wyoming levy no personal income tax, so there is no return to file there and no credit to claim. But Idaho still taxes the wages as a resident. The catch is withholding: an employer in Nevada, Washington or Wyoming has no state income tax to withhold, so nothing is taken out for Idaho either. The liability is real and nothing is being set aside against it, which usually means Idaho estimated payments.

What Idaho itself takes across a salary range

A single filer, taking the standard deduction. This is the figure every arrangement above is measured against, the tax Idaho charges a resident, whether the work happened inside the state or over a line:

Wages	Idaho tax	Effective rate
$45,000	$2,385	5.30%
$70,000	$3,710	5.30%
$120,000	$6,360	5.30%

Coming the other way: living in a no-income-tax state, working in Idaho

Nevada, Washington and Wyoming border Idaho and levy no personal income tax of their own. A resident of Nevada, Washington or Wyoming who works in Idaho has the simplest arrangement on this page and the least room to improve it: Idaho taxes the wages earned inside it, $3,710 on $70,000, there is no home-state return, and so there is nothing to claim a credit against. Living across a border that charges nothing does not reduce the Idaho bill by a cent.

Reciprocity cannot help either, even where Idaho has agreements: reciprocity shifts the income to the home state's return, and a state with no income tax has no return to shift it to.

What Idaho charges as your home state

Idaho applies a single 5.3% rate to taxable income for 2026, so every extra dollar of wages is taxed at the same state rate.

Idaho is a community property state. In community property states, income earned during marriage is generally owned equally by both spouses. This affects QJV eligibility, MFS filing strategies, and retirement account contribution rules.

State income tax on wages only, 2026 rates. Not tax advice, what this does and doesn't cover.