Pappas Co-Leads Legislation to Protect New Hampshire Workers from Unfair Tax Implications of Telework
Bill would prevent thousands of New Hampshire workers employed by companies in other states from being forced to pay state income tax on money earned through telework
Today Congressmen Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Jim Himes (CT-04) introduced the Multi-State Worker Tax Fairness Act to protect thousands of Granite Staters who are currently working from home from increased taxes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, telework has become necessary across a range of industries to keep workers and their families safe. Unfortunately, in a break from clearly established precedent, the Massachusetts state government (and other neighboring states) are currently forcing Granite Staters who are employed by Massachusetts companies to pay Massachusetts state income tax on money earned from telework in New Hampshire.
The Multi-State Worker Tax Fairness Act will protect New Hampshire residents from unfair taxation by clarifying that workers are only required to pay income tax to the state where they were physically present when the income was earned. Specifically, for teleworking Granite Staters employed by companies based in other states, the bill would eliminate the need to pay any state income tax whatsoever.
"At a time when many New Hampshire residents are teleworking from home in order to keep their families and their communities safe, it is completely unfair for Massachusetts to levy an income tax on these workers," said Congressman Pappas. "The Multi-State Workers Tax Fairness Act eliminates overly complex and unfair multi-state tax codes and ensures that employees will only be subject to the tax laws of their state when they telework. As we come together to deal with the far reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, I will continue to fight for the interests of Granite State families. I hope we can build bipartisan support for this bill which would provide relief from unfair out-of-state taxes."
This issue began receiving increased attention earlier this week in New Hampshire, and on Wednesday the State of New Hampshire announced a review into whether other states are improperly collecting income tax from New Hampshire residents while teleworking.