Military spouse here! So I know a little something about transplanting a business over a state line and how that affects your taxes.

I started my photography business in 2017 in North Carolina while my Marine was stationed at Camp Lejeune. Shortly after that, in the spring of 2018, he received orders to Quantico for the fall. That started a whole slew of transitions (home, business, and family because I was 36 weeks pregnant when we moved!).

One of my first business questions was: If I continue to shoot [relatively often] in North Carolina whenever I come back to visit, do I still need to pay taxes to the state of North Carolina? The answer: NO.

But with every answer comes a “but.” The “but” to this is:If the majority of your business takes place in the business’s home state, you do not need to pay taxes to the other state in which you shoot. But if your business is located in one state and you do the majority of your business in another, consult a tax professional to clarify!

This is helpful to civilians too, especially when you live on a state line. Like I said, we received orders to Quantico, which is really close to DC, which is also really close to Maryland. So it’s common that I shoot in the “DMV” area; however, because a majority of my business takes place in Virginia, I only pay taxes to the state of Virginia.

This is a very simple explanation of a more complicated tax law. If you have more in-depth questions, I would contact a tax professional (which is what I do often with so many questions)!