Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: Yes. West Virginia taxes trust income at graduated rates of 2.22% to 4.82% for 2025, and the IT-141 instructions say that “West Virginia is a federal conformity state”, so a trust filing a federal Form 1041 files the IT-141.
How West Virginia treats trust income
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Treatment | West Virginia taxes resident and nonresident estates and trusts through Form IT-141, the Fiduciary Income Tax return, using federal figures. In the source’s words, “would be required to file the IT-141 with” the West Virginia Tax Division when a federal Form 1041 is filed. |
| Who counts as a resident trust | The statute makes a trust resident by the domicile of the person who created it, and the instructions add that the fiduciary’s residence plays no part. In the source’s words, “consisting of property of, a person domiciled in this state” is the statutory language for a trust created by a living person. |
| Rate on trust income | The 2025 instructions print one rate schedule for resident and nonresident estates and trusts, from 2.22% on taxable income under $10,000 up to 4.82% on income over $60,000. In the source’s words, “WEST VIRGINIA TAX RATE SCHEDULE FOR” is the heading over that printed schedule. |
| Distribution deduction | The instructions provide an income distribution deduction for nonresident estates and trusts on Schedule NR, scaled by a West Virginia percentage. The source says: “This amount will be your West Virginia distribution deduction.” The documents read do not separately describe the deduction for resident trusts beyond use of federal figures. |
| Nonresident trusts | A nonresident trust reports only the income attributable to West Virginia and completes Schedule NR to find its West Virginia tax. In the source’s words, “items of income or gain derived from West Virginia sources” trigger the filing requirement for a nonresident estate or trust. |
| Trusts administered by a private trust company | The instructions state that a non grantor trust administered by a licensed private trust company needs approval from the State Auditor’s Office. In the source’s words, “administered by a licensed private trust company are exempt from taxation” is the instructions wording on the exemption. |
| Return to file | Estates and trusts file Form IT-141 with the West Virginia Tax Division, and the 2025 return was due April 15, 2026. In the source’s words, “For tax year 2025, the due date for an” annual Estate or Trust West Virginia Fiduciary Income Tax return is April 15, 2026. |
A $10,000 example
The tax on $10,000 of taxable income a trust keeps depends on the bracket it lands in. Taxed wholly at the lowest printed rate, 2.22%, the tax is computed as $10,000 x 2.22% = $222; taxed wholly at the highest, 4.82%, it is computed as $10,000 x 4.82% = $482. The state’s own schedule decides which applies. Federal tax on the trust’s income still applies.
Income the trust passes out to a beneficiary is handled as the distribution deduction row above describes.
What changes in 2026
SB 392, signed March 31, 2026, cut every rate by 5% retroactive to January 1, 2026, and W. Va. Code 11-21-4j prints the 2026 schedule for estates and trusts, which runs from 2.11% to 4.58%.
Federal rules
The state’s treatment sits on top of the federal one. The federal brackets a trust faces are laid out in trust tax brackets versus individual brackets, and capital gains that a trust keeps are covered in capital gains stay in the trust. The IRS explains the federal return in the About Form 1041 page.
Related: how West Virginia taxes retirement income, whether West Virginia taxes pensions, what a living trust costs in West Virginia, federal trust tax brackets, and trust income tax by state.
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Answer againSources
- IT-141 WV Fiduciary Income Tax 2025 Information and Instructions (West Virginia Tax Division): https://tax.wv.gov/Documents/PIT/2025/it141.instructions.2025.pdf
- W. Va. Code 11-21-7, Resident and nonresident defined (West Virginia Legislature): https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-21-7/
- W. Va. Code 11-21-4e, Rate of tax (West Virginia Legislature): https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-21-4E/
- W. Va. Code 11-21-4j Rate of tax, taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2026: https://code.wvlegislature.gov/11-21-4j/
- 2026 Income Tax Rate Cut: https://tax.wv.gov/Individuals/Pages/PersonalIncomeTaxReductionBill.aspx
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.