Virginia Personal Income Tax Laws

Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last reviewed June 20, 2016

States collect revenue from a variety of sources, including retail sales tax and/or personal income tax. These funds are used to pay for schools, law enforcement, roads, parks, and other shared community resources.

Taxes In The Commonwealth Of Virginia

Virginia has a progressive income tax, with a 2 percent tax rate on the first $3,000 of income, all the way up to 5.75 percent for taxable income over $17,000. Virginia uses federal income as a basis for calculating state income tax, as do many other states.

Do I Need To File A Return?

That depends. Virginia individual income tax applies to income received from all sources for Residents and Virginia sources for Nonresident individuals. A return must be filed if you received Virginia source income and meet the following general requirements:

Are required to file a federal income tax return;
Are single with income in excess of $11,950; or
Are married filing jointly with combined income in excess of $23,900; or
Are married filing separately with income in excess of $11,950.

Is There A Penalty If I File Late?

Yes, you would owe a penalty for late filing if your return shows a balance due and the return was filed after the extension period ends. Generally, you will compute a late filing penalty of 30 percent of the tax due with your return.

If you file your return within six (6) months after the due date, and the tax owed is more than 10 percent of your total tax liability, you must compute an extension penalty on the balance of tax due. The extension penalty is applied at the rate of two (2) percent per month, or part of the month, from the due date through the date your return is filed.

The main provisions of Virginia's personal income tax laws are listed in the following chart. See FindLaw's extensive Tax Law section for additional resources.

Code Section	58.1-320, et seq.
Who is Required to File	Individuals, estates, and trusts; Partnerships are not taxable; Estates and trusts are subject to tax on their Virginia taxable income; Local taxes may be required
Rate	First $3,000, 2%; Next $2,000, 3%; Next $12,000, 5%; Over $17,000, 5.75%
Federal Income Tax Deductible	No
Federal Income Used as Basis	Yes

Note: State laws are constantly changing -- contact a Virginia tax law attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state law(s) you are researching.

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