Live in Rhode Island, work in Massachusetts

From paycheck withholding to your returns

1. Withholding: Give Massachusetts payroll Form M-4 with the correct personal withholding exemptions and tell payroll where services are physically performed. Despite its title, M-4 is not a reciprocal-state wage exemption for Rhode Island residents. Check the Massachusetts income-tax line on your payslip and review whether Rhode Island withholding or estimated payments are needed after the eligible resident credit. Keep the M-4, W-2 and workday records; withholding amounts are prepayments rather than the final credit calculation.
2. Returns: Prepare Massachusetts nonresident Form 1-NR/PY first if Massachusetts' filing-year requirements are met, or to reconcile excess withholding. Then report the income on the Rhode Island resident RI-1040 and complete RI Schedule II for eligible Massachusetts tax. Rhode Island's reviewed instructions require a signed copy of the other state's return for the credit; keep the Massachusetts allocation worksheet and supporting records too. Include RI Schedule W and the supporting W-2/1099 statements when claiming Rhode Island withholding. The linked annual return instructions are the published 2025 editions; match forms, filing thresholds and line numbers to the year being filed.
3. Credit or refund: Rhode Island gives its resident a limited credit for eligible income tax due and paid to Massachusetts on the shared income. RI Schedule II compares that tax with Rhode Island's applicable tax and its income-based limit; it does not simply credit all Massachusetts W-2 withholding. If Massachusetts will refund all tax withheld because no Massachusetts tax is due, the reviewed Rhode Island instructions require zero tax-paid credit for that state. Use RI-1040MU if claiming eligible taxes from multiple states. A Rhode Island balance can remain after the credit.

Worked example: $100,000 of wages

Single filer, full-year resident of Rhode Island, all work performed in Massachusetts, no other income, standard deductions and modeled personal exemptions. Before credit, Rhode Island tax is $3,148. Modeled Rhode Island credit: $3,148. Pay $4,780 to Massachusetts and $0 to Rhode Island, modeled total $4,780.

The illustration retains the existing 2026 state-only model. The reviewed 2025 annual instructions establish the filing and supporting-document workflow; their year-specific amounts are not new 2026 model inputs. Actual credit limits, hybrid sourcing, other income and return-level adjustments can change the result.

Annual liability, not paycheck withholding or a refund estimate. Federal tax, payroll programs, other local taxes, special credits and part-year residency are excluded. Local income taxes not included.

Remote-work and local exceptions

Use Massachusetts' ordinary nonresident sourcing rules for 2026 work, rather than its expired pandemic telework rules. Where exact Massachusetts pay can be established, use it. Otherwise, eligible hourly, daily, weekly or monthly compensation is apportioned using Massachusetts working days over total working days; nonworking vacation, holiday and sick days are excluded from that day count. Keep evidence for split days and Rhode Island home-working days. The calculator assumes all modeled services occur in Massachusetts and does not allocate hybrid wages. Rhode Island residence still requires the resident-income review.

Pawtucket home, Attleboro workplace: keep the workday evidence

For a full-year Rhode Island resident who performs every workday in Attleboro, the ordinary wages are Massachusetts-source. If some services are instead performed at the Pawtucket home, retain an actual work calendar and payroll's wage breakdown before preparing 1-NR/PY. Claim only eligible Massachusetts tax through Rhode Island Schedule II and include the signed Massachusetts return required by Rhode Island's instructions. This example applies ordinary current sourcing, not the 2020–2021 pandemic rule, and calculates no local tax.

Official forms and instructions

• Massachusetts Form M-4: employee withholding exemptions, submitted to the employer (opens in new tab)
• Massachusetts 2025 personal-income-tax forms: final 1-NR/PY form and instructions (opens in new tab)
• Massachusetts nonresident regulation: actual Massachusetts pay, workday allocation and filing requirements (opens in new tab)
• Massachusetts withholding guide: M-4 and employer payroll records (opens in new tab)
• Rhode Island personal-income-tax forms: 2025 RI-1040, Schedule II, instructions and 2026 estimates (opens in new tab)
• Rhode Island RI-1040 instructions (2025 edition): credit limits and signed other-state return (opens in new tab)

Source audit 2026-11-01. Use the return and instructions for the year you are filing; a current-forms link may still show a prior-year return. Official sources checked; not independently reviewed.

Check your payslip and keep these records

• Compare the payroll certificate you supplied with the state withholding on your next payslip. Check city, county and school-district entries separately; a state exemption does not settle local tax.
• Keep your W-2 and other withholding statements, copies of payroll certificates, filed state and local returns, and proof of tax paid. A refund depends on actual withholding and the completed return, not this annual estimate.
• Keep an actual work-location log, including home-working days. This calculator assumes ordinary employee wages, full-year residence in Rhode Island and every workday physically in Massachusetts.
• If you moved during the year, have nonwage income or do not meet that scope, follow the pair's remote and local exceptions and the moving-year tax guide before using the amount as your own result. This tool does not calculate hybrid allocation, local credits or a personal refund.