As employers look forward to reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic and, perhaps more importantly, adjusting to the “new normal” of indefinite telework, they should evaluate the multistate tax obligations that arise out of remote employees. Some states (and a few localities) have passed laws, promulgated regulations, or issued guidance on the impact that COVID-19 has on withholding obligations for multijurisdictional employers. The majority of this pandemic-related guidance temporarily changes, in whole or in part, the tax jurisdiction’s ordinary withholding rules in-place before the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

This SALT@Work column co-authored by Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Charles Kearns and Chelsea Marmor for the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives reviews how employers may distinguish between pandemic-induced telework and permanent teleworking arrangements, based on the limited applicability of the relevant state guidance.