State and Local Tax Policy in a Time of Telework

Abstract

The taxing authority of subnational governments is limited by the geographic location of individuals and economic activity. The rise of telework decouples a worker’s residence from the employer’s location, creating challenges for personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, and unemployment insurance. Using US Census data, we show that teleworkers are more likely than nonteleworkers to move interstate and realize larger reductions in their state tax burdens from a move. Motivated by this evidence, we evaluate alternative principles for sourcing labor income to the state of residence, the employer, or work and discuss how remote work reshapes subnational tax bases.