Virginia
The Commonwealth Institute: How the Governor’s Proposal Increases Taxes for Low-Income Families, Gives Significant Cuts to the Wealthy
January 23, 2024
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: Who Pays? 7th Edition
January 9, 2024 • By ITEP Staff
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 includes nearly all (98.8 percent) state and local tax revenue collected in Virginia. These figures depict Virginia’s standard deduction at its 2024 levels of $8,500 […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Cutting Top Personal Income Tax Boosts the Wealthy, Excludes People with Lower Incomes
June 6, 2023
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 more.
The Commonwealth Institute: Support Virginia Families Through a Commonwealth Kids Credit
January 17, 2023
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 Credit (EITC), increased minimum wage, and expanded workers rights in recent years — policy wins that lift families up. Yet more must be done to […]
Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission: Options to Make Virginia’s Individual Income Tax More Progressive
October 24, 2022
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. Read more.
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis: Gas Tax Proposal Misses the Mark
March 29, 2022
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 in future years. If enacted, this policy is likely to miss the mark on helping families in Virginia who are struggling with higher costs, while […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Youngkin Administration’s Proposals Would Sharply Reduce State Resources, Largely Exclude Working Families with the Lowest Incomes
February 7, 2022
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 reduce state General Fund revenues — the portion of the state budget over which lawmakers have the most discretion and which primarily goes toward funding […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Tax Proposals Would Reduce Resources for Education, Transportation, and Other Priorities
December 8, 2021
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 deduction, eliminating the state and local sales tax on groceries, and pausing the recent increase to the fuels tax. While some of these policy ideas […]
The Commonwealth Institute: Tax Policy in Virginia
September 24, 2021
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” yet reinforce or exacerbate racially inequitable outcomes. Virginia’s upside-down tax code is no different. A more progressive and racially equitable tax code — one that […]
Commonwealth Institute: State Funding Proposals Include Regressive Tax Increases – Many without Offsets
February 21, 2020
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 1414 and SB 890) and several standalone regional transportation funding bills have advanced from their respective chambers in the Virginia General Assembly. In addition, proposed […]
The Half Sheet: Over 1 Million Virginia Taxpayers Expected to Miss Out on Refund Checks
September 11, 2019
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 the first half of October. The checks are the result of tax legislation signed into law earlier this year. Unfortunately, not every tax filer will […]
Three Tax Takeaways on Amazon’s Expansion Announcement
November 13, 2018 • By Carl Davis
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.
WVTF: Study: State Taxes Have Disproportionate Impact On Lower Income Virginians
October 19, 2018
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.
The Half Sheet: Virginia’s Tax System Is Upside Down
October 17, 2018
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…
Virginia: Who Pays? 6th Edition
October 17, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
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 4% Top 1% Income Range Less than $22,000 $22,000 to $39,100 $39,100 to $64,600 $64,600 to $116,600 $116,600 to $244,000 $244,000 to $587,200 over $587,200 […]
Twelve States Offer Profitable Tax Shelter to Private School Voucher Donors; IRS Proposal Could Fix This
October 2, 2018 • By Carl Davis
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.
Tax Cuts 2.0 – Virginia
September 26, 2018 • By ITEP Staff
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 “Tax Cuts 2.0” or “Tax Reform 2.0,” which would make the temporary provisions permanent. And they falsely claim that making these provisions permanent will benefit […]
The Commonwealth Institute: On Federal Tax Changes, Virginia Should Continue to Conform
June 4, 2018
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 in addition to also receiving a large federal tax cut. Recent analysis of the effects in Virginia shows that the top 1 percent will receive […]
Most States Have Raised Gas Taxes in Recent Years
May 22, 2018 • By Carl Davis
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.
The Commonwealth Institute: Dream Act Would Boost Virginia Families, Communities, State Economy, and Tax Revenues; Revoking DACA Hurts All
December 20, 2017
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 sales and excise taxes, property taxes and income tax. Read more here
How the Final GOP-Trump Tax Bill Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
December 16, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
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- and middle-income Americans. The bill would go into effect in 2018 but the provisions directly affecting families and individuals would all expire after 2025, with […]
Private Schools Donors Likely to Win Big from Expanded Loophole in Tax Bill
December 14, 2017 • By Carl Davis
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.
Tax Bill Would Increase Abuse of Charitable Giving Deduction, with Private K-12 Schools as the Biggest Winners
December 14, 2017 • By Carl Davis
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]
How the House and Senate Tax Bills Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
December 6, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
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.
How the Revised Senate Tax Bill Would Affect Virginia Residents’ Federal Taxes
November 14, 2017 • By ITEP Staff
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.
