When we all pitch in our fair share, we can invest in the programs and services that help everyone to thrive, like public education, affordable housing, and more. But Virginia’s tax code is upside-down, where those with the most pay the least taxes as a share of income.
Virginia
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ITEP Work in Action January 23, 2024 The Commonwealth Institute: How the Governor’s Proposal Increases Taxes for Low-Income Families, Gives Significant Cuts to the Wealthy
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January 9, 2024 Virginia: Who Pays? 7th Edition
Virginia Download PDF All figures and charts show 2024 tax law in Virginia, presented at 2023 income levels. Senior taxpayers are excluded for reasons detailed in the methodology. Our analysis… -
ITEP Work in Action June 6, 2023 The Commonwealth Institute: Cutting Top Personal Income Tax Boosts the Wealthy, Excludes People with Lower Incomes
With no budget compromise yet from the Virginia General Assembly, $1 billion in untargeted tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and profitable corporations are still on the table. Read… -
ITEP Work in Action January 17, 2023 The Commonwealth Institute: Support Virginia Families Through a Commonwealth Kids Credit
True economic prosperity means that families are doing well and have the resources and opportunity to thrive. By coming together, people in Virginia have won an improved Earned Income Tax… -
ITEP Work in Action October 24, 2022 Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission: Options to Make Virginia’s Individual Income Tax More Progressive
Though Virginia has substantially reduced taxes for low and lower-middle income filers, it could further reduce the tax burden for these filers and make the income tax even more progressive.… -
ITEP Work in Action March 29, 2022 The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis: Gas Tax Proposal Misses the Mark
Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a new policy proposal to suspend the state’s 26-cents per gallon gas tax for three months and to cap gas tax rates… -
ITEP Work in Action February 7, 2022 The Commonwealth Institute: Youngkin Administration’s Proposals Would Sharply Reduce State Resources, Largely Exclude Working Families with the Lowest Incomes
The Youngkin administration’s tax plan would leave out nearly 80 percent of the over 800,000 taxpayers in Virginia who have incomes below $24,000. Gov. Youngkin’s proposed changes would also sharply… -
ITEP Work in Action December 8, 2021 The Commonwealth Institute: Tax Proposals Would Reduce Resources for Education, Transportation, and Other Priorities
The incoming Youngkin administration and state lawmakers have proposed several major tax proposals to reduce taxes for individuals and businesses. These include one-time tax rebates, dramatically increasing the state standard… -
ITEP Work in Action September 24, 2021 The Commonwealth Institute: Tax Policy in Virginia
Black and Latinx people face tremendous barriers in areas like employment, education, and housing. These barriers include explicitly racist policies like school segregation as well as policies that appear “race-neutral”… -
ITEP Work in Action February 21, 2020 Commonwealth Institute: State Funding Proposals Include Regressive Tax Increases – Many without Offsets
Although many significant state (Virginia) tax policy bills filed for this year did not move beyond the committee level, several proposals remain under consideration. A large transportation funding package (HB… -
ITEP Work in Action September 11, 2019 The Half Sheet: Over 1 Million Virginia Taxpayers Expected to Miss Out on Refund Checks
If everything goes according to schedule, Virginia’s tax department will begin issuing $110 refund checks – $220 for joint filers – to Virginia taxpayers beginning next week and continuing through… -
blog November 13, 2018 Three Tax Takeaways on Amazon’s Expansion Announcement
Today Amazon announced major expansions in New York and Virginia, where it intends to hire up to 50,000 full-time employees. The announcement marks the culmination of a highly publicized search that lasted more than a year and involved aggressive courting of the company by cities across the nation. The following are three tax-related observations on the announcement.
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ITEP Work in Action October 19, 2018 WVTF: Study: State Taxes Have Disproportionate Impact On Lower Income Virginians
Virginians who make the least amount of money pay 40 percent more taxes as a percent of their income than the wealthiest Virginians. That’s according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which says Virginia’s tax code is upside down.
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ITEP Work in Action October 17, 2018 The Half Sheet: Virginia’s Tax System Is Upside Down
Virginia’s state and local taxes help to shape economic opportunity across the state. That’s because state and local revenues pay for the building blocks of thriving communities: schools, roads, libraries, and other public services. Unfortunately, the current state and local tax system is upside down. Families in Virginia have taxes withheld from their paychecks, and they also pay taxes when they shop at local businesses, buy groceries, or fill their gas tanks. But updated analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) shows that Virginia’s low- and moderate-income households pay a higher share of their incomes toward state and local taxes than the highest-income households.
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October 17, 2018 Virginia: Who Pays? 6th Edition
VIRGINIA Read as PDF VIRGINIA STATE AND LOCAL TAXES Taxes as Share of Family Income Top 20% Income Group Lowest 20% Second 20% Middle 20% Fourth 20% Next 15% Next… -
blog October 2, 2018 Twelve States Offer Profitable Tax Shelter to Private School Voucher Donors; IRS Proposal Could Fix This
A proposed IRS regulation would eliminate a tax shelter for private school donors in twelve states by making a commonsense improvement to the federal tax deduction for charitable gifts. For years, some affluent taxpayers who donate to private K-12 school voucher programs have managed to turn a profit by claiming state tax credits and federal tax deductions that, taken together, are worth more than the amount donated. This practice could soon come to an end under the IRS’s broader goal of ending misuse of the charitable deduction by people seeking to dodge the federal SALT deduction cap.
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September 26, 2018 Tax Cuts 2.0 – Virginia
The $2 trillion 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes several provisions set to expire at the end of 2025. Now, GOP leaders have introduced a bill informally called… -
ITEP Work in Action June 4, 2018 The Commonwealth Institute: On Federal Tax Changes, Virginia Should Continue to Conform
Although some filers would pay more in state taxes under conformity, many of the highest-income filers – the top one percent – will receive large state tax cuts. This is… -
blog May 22, 2018 Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
An updated version of this blog was published in April 2019.
State tax policy can be a contentious topic, but in recent years there has been a remarkable level of agreement on one tax in particular: the gasoline tax. Increasingly, state lawmakers are deciding that outdated gas taxes need to be raised and reformed to fund infrastructure projects that are vital to their economies.
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ITEP Work in Action December 20, 2017 The Commonwealth Institute: Dream Act Would Boost Virginia Families, Communities, State Economy, and Tax Revenues; Revoking DACA Hurts All
There are 30,000 young immigrants who were potentially eligible for DACA and call Virginia home. They currently contribute a total of $29.3 million to local and state taxes annually through… -
December 16, 2017 How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
The final tax bill that Republicans in Congress are poised to approve would provide most of its benefits to high-income households and foreign investors while raising taxes on many low-… -
blog December 14, 2017 Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill
For years, private schools around the country have been making an unusual pitch to prospective donors: give us your money, and you’ll get so many state and federal tax breaks in return that you may end up turning a profit. Under tax legislation being considered in Congress right now, that pitch is about to become even more persuasive.
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report December 14, 2017 Tax Bill Would Increase Abuse of Charitable Giving Deduction, with Private K-12 Schools as the Biggest Winners
In its rush to pass a major rewrite of the tax code before year’s end, Congress appears likely to enact a “tax reform” that creates, or expands, a significant number of tax loopholes.[1] One such loophole would reward some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals with a strategy for padding their own bank accounts by “donating” to support private K-12 schools. While a similar loophole exists under current law, its size and scope would be dramatically expanded by the legislation working its way through Congress.[2]
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December 6, 2017 How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
The House passed its “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” November 16th and the Senate passed its version December 2nd. Both bills would raise taxes on many low- and middle-income families in every state and provide the wealthiest Americans and foreign investors substantial tax cuts, while adding more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. The graph below shows that both bills are skewed to the richest 1 percent of Virginia residents.
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November 14, 2017 How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
The Senate tax bill released last week would raise taxes on some families while bestowing immense benefits on wealthy Americans and foreign investors. In Virginia, 59 percent of the federal tax cuts would go to the richest 5 percent of residents, and 19 percent of households would face a tax increase, once the bill is fully implemented.