Should I register and pay taxes in all the states I conduct online business/consultation in?

[psych2020]

1) Do I need to register as an LLC/PLLC/S-corp etc. to provide online consultation to residents of certain states?

2) Do I pay taxes in my state of residence and states(s) of business formation OR pay taxes in ALL the states my clients live in regardless of if I'm not a residence at their state or if I do not have a formal business formation there?

I've seen mixed answers from people online as well as CPAs.

[DianeC958]

1) No, if you are providing services from your resident state you do not need to register in the other states or file taxes for those states.  This issue comes with selling goods not services.

2)  The income you earn is taxable to the state you live in since that is where the work is being done.

[dekkthis]

My business did consulting in other states.  Some of my efforts to generate the income from that client were performed from my home and some at the client site.  Do I pay state tax to the client's state or my home state? 

[DianeC958]

Any income that is earned while you were working in a particular state is taxable to that state.

Most of the states have a minimum filing requirement, if the amount of money you earned while working in a particular state is less than the filing requirement, No, you do not need to file in that state.

Multiple States—Where To File

You will need to determine how much income was earned while actually working in the state, then reduce the income by any expenses for travel, food, lodging and other expenses related to that part of  your income.  Then determine if that amount exceeds the filing requirement for that state.