@Remote guy wrote:
This is W-2. This particular company is headquartered in New York.
New York has a "convenience of the employer" rule for remote workers. Basically that means that if you work remotely because the employer wants you to work in another state for business reasons (for the "convenience of the employer"), you will not have to pay New York tax. But if you work remotely for your own convenience, you have to pay New York income tax as if you actually work in New York.
Many people are of the opinion that if you never set foot in the New York office, you will not be subject to the convenience rule and will not have to pay New York tax. In my opinion the information I have seen from New York is not clear on this point. You might want to consult a tax lawyer in New York to be sure. But everyone agrees that if you ever go to the New York office, even for just one day during the year, the convenience rule applies and all your pay for the year is subject to New York tax.
If the company has offices in other states besides New York, even if New York is their headquarters, you could avoid the New York convenience rule issue if they would assign you to an office in another state that does not have the convenience rule, and you could telecommute to that other office instead of to New York.
Regardless of how New York treats your income, the standard rule applies that your income is subject to tax by the state where you actually work, as well as the by the state that you live in. On your resident tax return for the state that you live in you will get a credit for part or all of the tax that you pay to the state that you work in. So if you sometimes work in California you would have to file a California nonresident tax return and pay California tax on the income you earn for the time that you work in California. As a Hawaii resident you would also, of course, have to file a Hawaii resident tax return and report all of your income, no matter where it's from. If New York's convenience rule applies, you would also have to file a New York nonresident return and pay New York tax on all of your pay from the New York company. I don't know if Hawaii would give you credit for the tax that you pay to New York under these circumstances. You should ask a tax lawyer in Hawaii about it. California would not give you credit for any tax that you pay to New York on income that you earn for working in California.
@Remote guy wrote:
I've seen more than one company post jobs with a specific list of states that they will hire remote workers from.
As I said earlier, I suspect that's partly because they can only withhold state income tax for states where they have a presence. Also, in some states, the company would be treated as having a income from the state if they have even a single employee working in that state, which would make the company subject to tax by that state.
