I worked for a company out of New York for a few years & never paid the state of New York a penny.
For people living in non-state-income tax states like myself, perhaps it’s a good idea to put 3-5% of your income from each day while in state waters away in a separate investment account? If a state says that you owe them money then you have the funds earmarked, if not, you’ll have more money for retirement.
Also, I worked with a guy once who kept track of where he was each day for tax reasons. That’s probably not a bad idea either in case a state does want to hunt down mariners travelling through their waters. When the state of Louisiana went after me it was impossible for my ex-employer & myself to say what days I was in port or offshore because so much time had passed.
The primary factor is where you live. If the state you live in has an income tax, they want your money.
The next most important factor is where your employer processes it’s payroll. If your company processes its payroll in a state like California, you’ve got a big problem. California does not care about federal laws, they just want your money. If the employer processes its payroll in a state like Washington or Florida, you have no problem.
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That’s not very helpful for those of us that live in no tax states, like NH, DE, FL, TX, Wa, AK, etc.
For example, nothing in the holding of this case would prevent California from Taxing the wages of a seaman living in Washington.
Nor does this case discuss or apply the federal statutes applicable to seamen, or those engaged in interstate commerce.