Virginia · the numbers

Virginia figures at a glance, 2026

Every Virginia number that matters for the 2026 return in one place: the four brackets and what they are actually worth, the standard deduction and exemptions, the age and military subtractions, the credits, the filing thresholds, the estimated-payment rules and the dates, each with a one-line note, followed by a short list of what changed since 2025. For anyone who files here, and for anyone checking a preparer’s work.

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax · written from Virginia Department of Taxation (Virginia Tax) sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election · not yet reviewed by a Virginia practitioner

Virginia’s income tax has a graduated rate schedule on paper and a flat one in practice. The four brackets, 2%, 3%, 5% and 5.75%, have not moved since 1990, top out at $17,000 of taxable income for every filing status, and together save a filer at most $257.50 against a straight 5.75% rate. So the number to carry in your head is 5.75% of federal AGI after a standard deduction of $8,750 single or $17,500 joint and $930 per exemption. Almost nothing on this page changed for 2026. The standard deduction held, the exemptions held, the subtractions held, and the estimated-payment threshold rose from $150 to $1,000.

The core figures

Virginia income tax, 2026 return (filed 2027)
Item	2025	2026	Note
Starting point	Federal AGI	Federal AGI	Form 760 line 1. Below-the-line federal deductions never reach Virginia.
Top rate	5.75%	5.75%	On Virginia taxable income over $17,000, any filing status.
Standard deduction, single or separate	$8,750	$8,750	Rises to $9,200 for 2027. A dependent’s is limited to earned income.
Standard deduction, married filing jointly	$17,500	$17,500	Rises to $18,400 for 2027, $18,600 for 2028–2029.
Personal and dependent exemption, each	$930	$930	Not indexed. Worth $53 at 5.75%.
Additional exemption, 65 or older	$800	$800	Age 65 by January 1, 2027. Worth $46.
Additional exemption, blind	$800	$800	Federal definition.
Itemizing	Must match federal	Must match federal	Virginia Schedule A; state and local income taxes come out.
Local income tax	None	None	No Virginia city or county levies one.
Conformity to the federal code	Rolling	Fixed, December 31, 2025	HB 29, signed February 20, 2026.

The brackets, and what they are worth

Rate schedule, Va. Code 58.1-320, unchanged since 1990, all filing statuses
Virginia taxable income	Rate	Tax on the band	Cumulative tax at the top of the band
$0 to $3,000	2%	$60	$60
$3,000 to $5,000	3%	$60	$120
$5,000 to $17,000	5%	$600	$720
Over $17,000	5.75%	$720 plus 5.75% of the excess

A flat 5.75% on the first $17,000 would be $977.50. The lower brackets save $257.50, the same for a single filer and a couple, which is why a joint return gets no bracket relief beyond the larger standard deduction. Virginia taxable income is federal AGI plus Schedule ADJ additions, minus subtractions, the standard or itemized deduction, other deductions and exemptions.

Worked example: a couple with $100,000 of wages

Married filing jointly, both under 65, no dependents, federal AGI of $100,000, no Virginia additions or subtractions, taking the standard deduction. Virginia withholding of $4,500.

Federal AGI (Form 760 line 1)	$100,000
Standard deduction	−$17,500
Exemptions: 2 × $930	−$1,860
Virginia taxable income	$80,640
Tax on the first $17,000	$720
Tax on the remaining $63,640 at 5.75%	$3,659
Virginia tax	$4,379
Withholding	−$4,500
Refund	$121

The tax is 4.4% of federal AGI. The marginal rate on the next dollar earned, or the next dollar of a Roth conversion, is 5.75%. Had the couple put $6,000 more into a 401(k), Virginia tax would fall by $345, because 401(k) deferrals reduce federal AGI; a $6,000 federal below-the-line deduction would change nothing.

Subtractions and deductions for individuals

The figures on Schedule ADJ, 2026
Item	2026 figure	Note
Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement	100%	All of the federally taxable amount, at any age and income.
Age deduction, per person 65 or older	$12,000	Born on or before January 1, 1939: full amount. Born later: reduced $1 for $1 of adjusted federal AGI (AGI less taxable Social Security) over $50,000 single or $75,000 joint combined, so gone at $62,000 / $87,000. Birth-date window for 2026 (verify in the 2026 Form 760 instructions).
Military Benefits Subtraction, per person	$40,000	Military retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan payments. No age test. Not TSP, CSRS or FERS. Can be combined with the age deduction, not on the same dollars.
Disability income subtraction	$20,000	Permanent and total disability. Not with the age deduction.
Basic military pay, active duty 90 days or more	$15,000	Phases out $1 for $1 above $15,000 of basic pay; gone at $30,000.
Unemployment compensation	100%	Whatever was in federal AGI.
Virginia Lottery prizes	Each prize under $600	Prize by prize.
Virginia529 (Commonwealth Savers) contributions	$4,000 per account	Account owner only. Unlimited carryforward. No cap once the owner is 70.
ABLEnow contributions	$2,000 per account	Same age-70 rule. Recaptured on nonqualified withdrawal.
Child and dependent care expenses (a deduction, not a credit)	$3,000 / $6,000	The expenses used for the federal credit, one dependent / two or more. Worth at most $345.
Foster care, per child in permanent foster care	$1,000	Child must be a dependent federally and in Virginia.
Eligible educator expenses	$500	New for 2026. 900 hours in a Virginia school; not deducted federally.
Sales tax on energy-efficient equipment	20%, up to $500 ($1,000 joint)	Of the sales tax paid.
Long-term care premiums	No dollar cap	Only if none of the premium was deducted federally.

Credits

Virginia credits an ordinary filer meets, 2026
Credit	Figure	Refundable?	Note
Earned income credit, refundable	20% of the federal EITC	Yes	Full-year residents. Extended through tax year 2029.
Earned income credit, nonrefundable	20% of the federal EITC	No	Capped at the tax.
Credit for Low Income Individuals	$300 per personal and dependent exemption	No	Family Virginia AGI below the federal poverty guideline for its size; 2026 table to come (the Department’s page shows 2024: $15,060 for one, $31,200 for four). Only one of these three credits per return, and none if anyone on the return took the age deduction, the age or blind exemption, or the military pay subtraction.
Credit for taxes paid to another state	Lesser of the other state’s tax or Virginia tax on the same income	No	Schedule OSC. Not for reciprocal-state wages.
Spouse Tax Adjustment	Up to $259 (verify 2026 amount)	No	Joint returns where both spouses have income; makes up for the shared brackets.
State child tax credit	None		Virginia has no child credit of its own.
Renter’s or property tax circuit-breaker credit	None		Senior real estate tax relief is local, through the commissioner of the revenue.

Filing thresholds, estimated payments and dates

Who files, who prepays, and when
Item	2026	Note
Must file if Virginia AGI is at least, single or separate	$11,950	And required to file federally. Same as 2025.
Must file if Virginia AGI is at least, married filing jointly	$23,900	Combined.
Estimated payments required when expected tax after withholding and credits exceeds	$1,000	Up from $150. Form 760ES.
Safe harbor	90% of this year or 100% of last year	Timely installments; 66⅔% for farmers, fishermen and merchant seamen. No 110% tier.
Electronic payment required when	Any payment over $1,500 or total tax over $6,000	Estimated, extension and return payments.
Return due	May 1, 2027	A Saturday; the Department’s rule moves a weekend due date to the next business day, Monday, May 3.
Automatic extension to file	November 1, 2027	No form. At least 90% of the tax must be paid by the due date or a 2%-per-month extension penalty applies, up to 12%.
2026 estimated payment dates	May 1, June 15, Sept. 15, 2026; Jan. 15, 2027	Virginia’s first installment is May 1, not April 15.
Refund timing	Up to 4 weeks e-filed; up to 10 weeks paper	During filing season. Where’s My Refund or 804-367-2486.

Beyond the income tax

Other Virginia figures a household meets
Item	2026
Estate and inheritance tax	None. Repealed for deaths after July 1, 2007. A small probate tax remains (verify rate).
Retail sales tax, most of Virginia	5.3% (4.3% state plus 1% local)
Retail sales tax, Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Central Virginia regions	6%
Retail sales tax, Williamsburg, James City and York	7%
Groceries and essential hygiene products	1% statewide
Local school sales tax, up to 1%	On the November 3, 2026 ballot in 47 localities; where approved, added from 2027 (verify results by locality)
Senior and disabled real estate tax relief	Local option, 65 or older or permanently disabled; income and net-worth limits set by each county and city; affidavit generally due by April 1 (verify local figures)
Reciprocal states for wages	District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia

What changed from 2025

Fixed-date conformity. Virginia follows the federal code as of December 31, 2025 instead of on a rolling basis. The 2025 federal law applies for 2026 as it affects AGI and itemized deductions, except bonus depreciation, qualified production property expensing, research-cost expensing and the higher Section 179 limits, from which Virginia decouples; the Pease limitation on itemized deductions continues in Virginia.
Estimated-payment threshold: $1,000, up from $150, for tax years beginning January 1, 2026.
Refundable EITC extended through tax year 2029; it had been due to expire after 2026.
Educator expense deduction, $500, reinstated for 2026 and later.
Standard deduction schedule set through 2029: $9,200 / $18,400 for 2027, $9,300 / $18,600 for 2028 and 2029. The 2026 figures themselves did not move.
Business interest subtraction cut from 50% to 20% of the federally disallowed amount, effective 2025.
Pass-through entity tax election and owner credits made permanent.
Innocent spouse relief available from the Department without a federal claim, from July 1, 2026.
No Virginia break for tips, overtime, car-loan interest or the senior deduction. Nothing changed, and that is the news: the 25% subtractions in the introduced budget were dropped.

Behind the scenes: why the brackets are frozen

Virginia’s rate schedule is written in dollars in Va. Code 58.1-320, with no indexing provision, and the last change was the 5.75% bracket added for 1990. Every year the General Assembly leaves it alone, inflation moves more income into the top band; a threshold set at $17,000 in 1990 has never been adjusted. The result is a tax that collects nearly all its revenue at 5.75% while keeping the appearance of progressivity. The standard deduction is where the legislature has chosen to give relief, in temporary increases renewed budget by budget, which is why that figure has a schedule and the brackets do not.

The exemptions tell the same story. $930 and $800 are not indexed either, and at 5.75% they are worth $53 and $46 each. The $12,000 age deduction, by contrast, is large, but its $50,000 and $75,000 thresholds are also fixed in dollars and have been reached by an ever larger share of retirees as pensions and IRA balances have grown.

What to bring

Last year’s Form 760 and Schedule ADJ, to compare line by line
Dates of birth for everyone on the return; 65 adds $800 to exemptions and opens the $12,000 age deduction
SSA-1099s, so the age deduction income test can be run on AGI less Social Security
1099-Rs for military retirement and Survivor Benefit Plan payments
Virginia529 and ABLEnow contribution statements, with the account owner’s name
If you itemized federally: the federal Schedule A and the real estate and personal property tax bills
Estimated payment confirmations, with dates

Questions people ask

What is the Virginia income tax rate for 2026?

2% on the first $3,000 of Virginia taxable income, 3% to $5,000, 5% to $17,000 and 5.75% above that, for every filing status. The brackets have not changed since 1990. For anyone with a full-time income the practical rate is 5.75%.

What is the Virginia standard deduction for 2026?

$8,750 for single and married-filing-separately filers and $17,500 for joint filers, unchanged from 2025. You may take it only if you took the federal standard deduction; if you itemized federally you must itemize in Virginia too.

How much is a Virginia exemption worth?

$930 per person, plus $800 for age 65 and $800 for blindness. At 5.75% that is $53 and $46 of tax. A married couple both over 65 claims $3,460 of exemptions.

Does Virginia tax Social Security?

No. Every dollar that was taxed federally is subtracted on Schedule ADJ, at any age and any income. Pensions, IRAs and 401(k) withdrawals are taxed, subject to the $12,000 age deduction at 65 and the $40,000 military subtraction.

Do I have to make Virginia estimated payments?

Only if you expect to owe more than $1,000 after withholding and credits. The first installment is due May 1, not April 15; the others are June 15, September 15 and January 15.

When is the Virginia return due?

May 1, 2027, which is a Saturday; the Department’s rule is that a weekend due date moves to the next business day, so expect Monday, May 3, but watch for the Department’s announcement. The automatic six-month extension to file runs to November 1, 2027, but 90% of the tax must be paid by the May due date.

Think 5.75% of AGI, minus the deduction and $930 a head

Get federal AGI right, take every Schedule ADJ subtraction you qualify for, and the Virginia arithmetic is one multiplication.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado
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Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Virginia practitioner — use the right article