Updated October 2, 2026. Quick answer: Virginia taxes individuals at four rates under Code of Virginia section 58.1-320: two percent on the first $3,000 of taxable income, three percent up to $5,000, five percent up to $17,000 and five and three-quarters percent above $17,000. The section prints those dollar amounts, with no inflation adjustment in its text.
The four Virginia brackets
| Rate | Virginia taxable income |
|---|---|
| 2% | First $3,000 |
| 3% | Over $3,000 up to $5,000 |
| 5% | Over $5,000 up to $17,000 |
| 5.75% | Over $17,000 |
The statute opens “A tax is hereby annually imposed on the Virginia taxable income for each taxable year of every individual as follows”. The top bracket reads “Five and three-quarters percent on income in excess of $17,000 for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 1990”. The section keeps older schedules for taxable years before 1990 in the same text, and that 1990 schedule is the one that applies to 2026.
A worked example
As a computed example (an illustration, not a source figure), take $50,000 of Virginia taxable income. Two percent of the first $3,000 is $60; three percent of the next $2,000 is $60; five percent of the next $12,000 is $600; and five and three-quarters percent of the $33,000 above $17,000 is $1,897.50. The total, computed as the sum of the four, is $2,617.50 (computed). The first three brackets are filled by the first $17,000 of taxable income.
What this page does not cover
The section sets the rates and brackets. It does not set Virginia’s deductions, exemptions or the age deduction that reduces taxable income for older residents, so the taxable income in the examples is the figure after those. Read the state’s retirement rules on how Virginia taxes retirement income. The Code section was read on October 2, 2026 and shows no inflation adjustment of the dollar thresholds.
Common mistakes
- Applying 5.75% to all income. It applies only to the part above $17,000.
- Reading the $12,000 to $16,000 figures in the older paragraphs of the section as current. They belong to taxable years before 1990.
- Treating federal taxable income as Virginia taxable income without the state’s adjustments.
- Expecting the thresholds to move with inflation. The statute text prints fixed dollar amounts.
Related: how Virginia taxes retirement income, whether Virginia taxes pensions, whether Virginia taxes Social Security, and the federal 2026 tax brackets.
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Sources
- Code of Virginia section 58.1-320, imposition of tax: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter3/section58.1-320/
- Virginia Department of Taxation (where later updates appear; no figure on this page comes from it): https://www.tax.virginia.gov/
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 2, 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.