I moved to another state right before the COVID-19 pandemic but never got that state's driver's license or vehicle registration. Am I still a Virginia resident for taxes?

Plain-English summary

After IRS data showed no 2020 Virginia return, the Department assessed this taxpayer as a Virginia domiciliary resident. She appealed, saying she lived in another state ("State A"). The Tax Commissioner abated the assessment and refunded her payments with interest.

A mobile work history. The taxpayer grew up in Virginia, moved to a second state ("State B") in 2010, and lived and worked there until May 2019. She briefly returned to Virginia in August 2019 and stayed at her family's Virginia home, then in December 2019 began living and working in State A. (She later moved again to a "State C" for work in 2021–2022.) For 2020 she filed both her State A resident return and her federal return using a State A address.

The distinctive issue: missing new-state paperwork during COVID. Virginia's domicile analysis usually gives a lot of weight to whether you picked up the new state's driver's license, vehicle registration, and voter registration. Here she had done none of those in State A — and had actually obtained a Virginia driver's license and vehicle registration during her short 2019 stay at the family home. What carried the day was her explanation, which the Commissioner accepted as credible: State A's motor-vehicle services were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and her employer had directed her to limit contact with the public because her work involved direct contact with COVID-19 patients. She also had not registered to vote anywhere, so voting cut neither way.

The result. Because no single factor is decisive, and the pandemic reasonably explained both the absence of State A connections and the retention of the Virginia ones, the Department found she had abandoned Virginia and established a State A domicile as of December 2019. It expressly noted that the disruption of government services "especially during the earliest part of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020" made her retained Virginia license and registration understandable. She was therefore not a Virginia domiciliary resident for 2020, and — unlike most of these cases, which merely abate an unpaid assessment — she got a refund of amounts she had paid, plus refund interest.

What this means for you

People who relocated around the 2020–2021 pandemic

If you genuinely moved to a new state but couldn't complete the usual formalities — the new state's DMV was closed or backed up, your job limited your movement — that gap does not automatically defeat your change of domicile. The Department will weigh a credible, documented pandemic explanation for why the paperwork lagged. What still matters is that you actually lived and worked in the new state and behaved as a resident (here, filing a resident return there from a local address).

Essential and healthcare workers

This taxpayer's work involved direct contact with COVID-19 patients, and her employer told her to minimize public contact — a specific, believable reason she didn't stand in line at a motor-vehicle office. If your pandemic-era duties kept you from updating a license or registration, preserve evidence of that (employer guidance, the nature of your work, closure notices), because it can explain away the very connections the Department would otherwise read against you.

Tax preparers

For a COVID-era relocation, the record is about substance over formalities: where the client physically lived and worked, resident returns filed in the new state, and a concrete reason any missing new-state indicia (license, registration, voter card) or lingering Virginia indicia are explained by pandemic conditions. Note the upside here — abatement plus a refund with interest — when the client had already paid; and note the domicile date the Department fixed (December 2019, the start of the State A period), consistent with treating a change of domicile as dating to the beginning of the process.

Common questions

Q: I moved to a new state in 2020 but never got its driver's license because of COVID closures. Am I still a Virginia resident?
A: Not necessarily. In this ruling the taxpayer never obtained the new state's license or registration, yet the Department still found she had changed domicile, because the pandemic credibly explained the missing paperwork and she was actually living and working there.

Q: I kept my Virginia license and plates after moving. Does that make me a Virginia resident?
A: It's a factor against you, but it can be explained. Here the retained Virginia license and registration (picked up during a brief 2019 stay) were treated as understandable given pandemic disruptions and the taxpayer's job restrictions.

Q: What evidence helped the most here?
A: That she was actually living and working in the new state and filed her resident and federal returns from a new-state address, combined with a specific pandemic explanation — disrupted motor-vehicle services and an employer instruction to limit public contact because she worked with COVID-19 patients.

Q: I already paid the Virginia assessment. If I win, do I get my money back?
A: Yes — when an assessment is abated and you had paid it, the payments are refunded, and here the Department added refund interest.

Citations and references

Statutes and regulations:

• Va. Code § 58.1-1821 — application to the Tax Commissioner to correct an assessment
• Va. Code § 58.1-302 — domiciliary vs. actual (183-day) residency
• Va. Code § 46.2-323.1 — Virginia driver's licenses issued only to certified residents; obtaining/renewing one is a strong indicator of Virginia intent
• 23 VAC 10-110-30 B 3 — burden on the individual to prove a change of domicile

Authorities the Commissioner relied on (described here, not linked): Cooper's Adm'r v. Commonwealth, 121 Va. 338 (1917) (domicile requires both presence and intent); and prior Department public documents on the driver's-license factor (P.D. 00-151, 02-149).

Source

• Landing page: Virginia Laws, Rules & Decisions
• Ruling: P.D. 25-106

Original ruling text

September 24, 2025

Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax

Dear *:

This will respond to your letter in which you seek correction of the individual income tax assessment issued to you (the “Taxpayer”) for the taxable year ended December 31, 2020.

FACTS

The Department received information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) indicating that the Taxpayer may have been required to file a Virginia income tax return for the 2020 taxable year. A review of the Department’s records showed that the Taxpayer had not filed a return. The Department requested additional information from the Taxpayer in order to determine if her income was taxable in Virginia. Based on the information received, the Department determined that the Taxpayer was taxable as a domiciliary resident of Virginia and issued an assessment. The Taxpayer applied for correction, contending she was a resident of * (State A) during 2020.

DETERMINATION

Two classes of residents, a domiciliary resident and an actual resident, are set forth in Virginia Code § 58.1-302. The domiciliary residence of a person means the permanent place of residence of that person and the place to which that person intends to return even though they may be residing elsewhere. An actual resident of Virginia means a person who, for an aggregate of more than 183 days of the taxable year, maintained their place of abode within Virginia. A Virginia domiciliary resident continues to be subject to Virginia taxation even if they work in another state or country. Additionally, a person who is not a domiciliary resident of Virginia, but who stays in Virginia for an aggregate of more than 183 days, is also subject to Virginia taxation.

In order to change domicile, there must be (1) actual abandonment of the old domicile, coupled with an intent not to return to it, and (2) an acquisition of a new domicile at another place, which must be formed by personal presence and an intent to remain there permanently or indefinitely. See Cooper’s Adm’r v. Commonwealth , 121 Va. 338, 347 (1917). The burden of proof that an individual has abandoned or failed to establish domicile in Virginia rests with the individual. See Title 23 of the Virginia Administrative Code (VAC) 10-110-30 B 3.

The determination of whether a change of domicile has occurred is highly dependent on the facts and circumstances of the individual case and no single factor is dispositive. Factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, the following:

sites of real and tangible property, location of savings and checking accounts, motor vehicle registration and licensing, motor vehicle operator’s license, voter registration, membership in clubs and civic groups, place of business, profession or employment, charitable contributions, location of schools attended by children, length of time of residence, place of birth and marriage, residence of family, reason for abandoning or acquiring domicile, and, in the case of a minor or married person, domicile of parents, husband, or wife and/or children. Id.

The Taxpayer explains that she was raised in Virginia and remained here until she moved to * (State B) in March 2010. She lived and worked in State B until May 2019. In August 2019, she returned to Virginia and moved into her family’s Virginia residence. In December 2019, she began living and working in State A. In April 2021, she moved to *** (State C) for employment and remained in State C until August 2022 when she returned to Virginia.

The Taxpayer explains that she had no intention of returning to Virginia when she left for State A and that she was working with a local loan officer to qualify to purchase a home there. She explains that she did not obtain a State A driver’s license or vehicle registration because State A’s motor vehicle services were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, she states that her employer advised her to limit contact with the public because her work involved direct contact with COVID-19 patients. She did, however, file both her State A resident income tax return and her federal income tax return for the 2020 taxable year using her State A address.

The Taxpayer also retained several connections with Virginia. Specifically, she obtained a Virginia driver’s license and vehicle registration during the brief period of time she was present in Virginia in 2019. However, she did not register to vote in Virginia and was not registered to vote in any other state at that time.

As we consider the fact that the Taxpayer obtained a Virginia driver’s license and registered her vehicle, it should be understood that Virginia Code § 46.2-323.1 states, “No driver’s license . . . shall be issued to any person who is not a Virginia resident.” In fact, this section states that every person applying for a driver’s license must execute and furnish to the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) a statement that certifies that the applicant is a Virginia resident. The Department has found that an individual may successfully establish a domicile outside Virginia even if they retain a Virginia driver’s license. See Public Document (P.D.) 00-151 (8/18/2000). However, obtaining or renewing a Virginia driver’s license is considered to be a strong indicator of intent to retain domiciliary residency in Virginia. See P.D. 02-149 (12/9/2002).

That said, the Department acknowledges that a determination of a change in domicile is evidenced by a process in which no single factor is dispositive such as a license or vehicle registration. In this case, it is unclear if the Taxpayer had the requisite domiciliary intent to reacquire a Virginia domicile in 2019 when she returned to her family home. After carefully considering all of the information presented, the Department finds that the Taxpayer adequately established her intent to abandon her Virginia domicile and establish domicile in State A as of December 2019. The fact that she retained her Virginia driver’s license and Virginia vehicle registration is understandable because of her professional responsibilities and the disruption of government services, especially during the earliest part of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Accordingly, the Department finds that the Taxpayer was not taxable as a domiciliary resident of Virginia for the 2020 taxable year. The assessment, therefore, will be abated and any payments that were applied to the assessment will be refunded, including any applicable refund interest.

The Code of Virginia sections and regulation cited are available online at law.lis.virginia.gov. The public documents cited are available at tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules, & Decisions section of the Department’s website. If you have any questions regarding this determination, you may contact * in the Office of Tax Policy and Legal Affairs, Tax Adjudication and Resolution Division, at or **@tax.virginia.gov.

Sincerely,

James J. Alex

Tax Commissioner

Commonwealth of Virginia

AR/4885.Y

Related Documents

00-151

02-149