Estimated taxes to company office location vs company headquarters location

[Anonymous]

Hello,

   I'm an independent remote 1099 contract software developer who lives in Colorado. A client who is utilizing my services is located in an office in New York City, however their corporate headquarters is in San Francisco. The contractor agreement I signed with them states that "this agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of California." That being said, do I pay my quarterly estimated taxes to New York or to California? (ie: Do estimated taxes go to the state where the office that hired me is located, New York, or their headquarters, California? Or to the state that issues the 1099? Or to the state where check payments come from? Or to the state specified in the contractor agreement?)

Thanks.

[DianeC958 · Accepted solution]

The estimated tax payments go to the state where the work is done.  Since you are located in Colorado and performing the work in Colorado the income is taxable to Colorado not New York or California.

Since you live and perform the work in Colorado all of the income is taxable to Colorado.

[Anonymous]

(palm to forehead)

It looks like I need to amend state tax returns from past years and pay some penalties. What really angers and frustrates me is (1) the complexity of our tax code here in the U.S., and (2) the fact that TurboTax didn't help at all to clarify that taxes on income derived from New York sources aren't paid to New York if I work remotely in another state. I think I need to stop using TurboTax and instead hire a local CPA. Thank you very much for your help and your quick response.