Live in Tennessee, work in Virginia

From paycheck withholding to your returns

1. Withholding: Give the Virginia employer Form VA-4 and check Virginia withholding on the next pay statement. Virginia's employer guidance expressly treats Tennessee as a non-reciprocity state. Tennessee's lack of wage income tax therefore does not justify selecting a Virginia reciprocal-state exemption. Check whether withholding is adequate for the annual liability. Changes to where you actually work or live must be reported to payroll; the state-tax estimate does not determine other payroll deductions.
2. Returns: Prepare Virginia nonresident Form 763 when Virginia's filing requirements apply, including its Virginia-source income and allocation calculations, and use the return to reconcile excess Virginia withholding. The filing test uses Virginia adjusted gross income and the applicable filing-year threshold; the return allocation considers Virginia-source and all-source income. Do not substitute a resident Form 760 simply because the employer is in Virginia. The reviewed Form 763 instructions are the final 2025 annual edition; use the proper filing-year forms for 2026 wages. Tennessee requires no individual wage-income-tax return for this wages-only example.
3. Credit or refund: There is no Tennessee wage income tax against which to claim a resident credit for Virginia tax. Reconcile Virginia withholding on the Virginia return instead. A Virginia refund requires an actual overpayment after the completed return calculation; neither Tennessee residence nor the calculator's annual tax amount establishes a refund.

Worked example: $100,000 of wages

Single filer, full-year resident of Tennessee, all work performed in Virginia, no other income, standard deductions and modeled personal exemptions. Tennessee has no individual wage income tax, so there is no resident credit to claim. Pay a modeled $4,936 to Virginia and $0 to Tennessee, total $4,936.

The existing 2026 Virginia planning inputs are unchanged. Reviewed 2025 annual instructions support the nonresident filing workflow; final filing-year thresholds, deductions and credits must be checked when preparing the return. This update does not calculate local charges, payroll programs or a hybrid work pattern.

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

Full-year Tennessee resident who remains a Virginia nonresident, ordinary W-2 wages and all modeled services physically performed in Virginia. The Virginia guide defines source income to include labor performed in Virginia. Work done from a Tennessee home calls for a separate sourcing and allocation review, supported by a workday calendar and employer records. A Virginia domicile, abode or residency change, other income and part-year residence require a new filing analysis; no hybrid tax is calculated here.

Bristol, Tennessee home; Bristol, Virginia workplace

Check the actual home and workplace addresses rather than the shared Bristol name. A full-year Tennessee resident working on the Virginia side follows Virginia nonresident withholding and filing rules. Keep the VA-4, W-2 state entries, pay statements and work-location calendar. If some services move to the Tennessee home, ask payroll to review the allocation rather than declaring all wages exempt. This example calculates no local charge or payroll deduction.

Official forms and instructions

• Virginia VA-4: employee withholding certificate (revision04/26) (opens in new tab)
• Virginia Form 763 instructions (final 2025 annual edition) (opens in new tab)
• Virginia current annual nonresident forms: choose the filing year (opens in new tab)
• Virginia employer withholding guide (May 2025): Tennessee has no wage reciprocity (opens in new tab)
• Virginia residency and Virginia-source income guidance (opens in new tab)
• Tennessee DOR: no state income tax or withholding on earned income (opens in new tab)

Source audit 2026-11-02. 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 Tennessee and every workday physically in Virginia.
• 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.