I am an independent contractor, I made money out of the state that I live, do I file an out of state return for those states?

[paulgarbanzo]

No taxes were taken out, these are all 1099's.

[TomD8]

Yes, you do, if:

1. you actually (physically) worked within those states, and

2. your income in the nonresident state exceeded the state's filing requirement for non-residents.

Exception: California taxes non-resident independent contractors who provided services to California-based clients, even if the contractor never set foot in California.

Remember that your home state can tax ALL your income, regardless of where you earn it.  But it will allow you to claim a credit for all or part of the taxes you pay to non-resident states.

[Mike9241]

we can't tell you because we don't know the states. the laws for filing vary greatly from state to state. some states do not have a personal income tax.  those that do usually require a certain amount of income before filing is required. we would need to know the state and whether you had an actual presence in the state.

[Hal_Al]

This is the general rule: The income is work state (WS) source income since it was earned there. Resident States (RS) tax all their resident's income, regardless of where earned. You will file a non-resident tax return for the WS and report the WS income. You will file a full year resident return for the RS, reporting all your income. The RS will give you a credit, or partial credit for any tax paid to the WS.

For state filing requirements, the WS does not, usually, go by what you earned in their state but by your total income . For example, if WS has a $10,000 filing requirement and your total income for the year was $15,000; you would be required to file even though you may have had only had $300 of income in that state. But if your total income was $9,000 you would not need to file.