Virginia State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in Virginia, with full citations and the original source on every page.
No Virginia rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Does Virginia's three-year refund deadline also prevent a taxpayer from applying an old income-tax overpayment as a credit to a later year?
Yes. The court held that receiving an overpayment by check and applying it as a credit are functionally the same recovery. Because the taxpayer claimed his 2011 overpayment more than three years after…
Would sending documents to the IRS overturn Virginia assessments based on the IRS's current audit adjustments?
No. Virginia would not look behind the IRS's current final adjustments, and merely submitting rebuttal documents to the IRS did not show the Virginia assessments were wrong. If the IRS later changed t…
Could Virginia consider an administrative tax appeal filed more than 90 days after the assessment notice was mailed?
No. Virginia mailed the assessment on March 29, 2016, making the 90-day administrative appeal deadline June 27. Because the taxpayer did not file until August 4, the Tax Commissioner could not reach t…
Could a restaurant raise a new gratuities issue after the 90-day appeal period by calling it a reconsideration request?
No. The restaurant raised gratuities after the 90-day deadline and had not included that issue in its original timely appeal. Reconsideration could correct facts, apply changed law or policy, or consi…
Under Virginia's 2017 guidelines, how did purchasers and dealers claim refunds of erroneously paid retail sales and use tax, what made a claim complete, and when did limitations and interest begin?
The purchaser generally had to seek a refund from the dealer first. If the dealer could not provide it, a direct Department claim required a complete Refund Claimant Return, transaction spreadsheet, i…
Was a December 2014 amended return timely to recover a 2007 Virginia assessment paid through a tax lien in February 2012?
No. The taxpayers missed both the general May 1, 2011 amended-return deadline and the special two-year period after the February 2012 lien payment. Their December 2014 filing was late, so Virginia had…
Could a Virginia taxpayer's otherwise late amended refund return remain timely if it was filed within one year after another state's final determination changed the taxpayer's resident status?
Potentially. The taxpayer's second amended return was outside Virginia's ordinary three-year period, but Va. Code § 58.1-1823 A (v) allowed a refund claim within one year after another state's final d…
Could Virginia assess 2012 tax more than three years after the return due date when taxpayers had not reported an IRS increase in federal income?
Yes. The ordinary three-year limit did not apply because the taxpayers failed to file a Virginia amended return within one year of the IRS change. Va. Code § 58.1-312 A 3 then allowed Virginia to asse…
Were corporate refund claims timely when Virginia amended returns were filed more than one year after IRS closing agreements became final?
No. The IRS closing agreements became final when the taxpayer received notice that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue had signed them. Both Virginia amended returns were filed more than one year lat…
Could Virginia refund 2011 and 2012 overpayments when the original returns were filed after the three-year deadline?
No. Both returns were filed after the three-year refund period expired, and Va. Code § 58.1-499 D gave the Department no discretion to extend it. Disability did not suspend the deadline, and caring fo…
Could a taxpayer take a BPOL dispute to the Virginia Department before filing a complete local appeal?
No. The county's audit letter was not a final appeal determination, and the taxpayer had not filed a complete local appeal. The Department lacked jurisdiction until that process was completed, but the…
Did disability suspend Virginia's three-year deadline for claiming a 2012 income-tax refund?
No. The 2012 return had to be filed by May 2, 2016 to obtain a refund, but it was not filed until October 2016. Virginia law required a fiduciary or authorized agent to file for a disabled taxpayer an…
Could California residents amend a Virginia nonresident return for a reciprocal tax credit after California changed their 2011 liability?
Yes. California's September 2015 adjustment made the taxpayers eligible to claim Virginia's reciprocal nonresident credit, and their May 2016 amended Virginia return was within the special one-year pe…
Could a credit-card finance company use retailer assignments to claim Virginia sales-tax bad-debt credits on customer defaults?
No. Virginia strictly read the bad-debt statute to benefit the retail dealer that made the sale, reported it, and remitted the tax. The finance company bought or originated the accounts and bore the d…
Could taxpayers avoid Virginia's three-year refund deadline by carrying a late-claimed overpayment forward as a credit?
No. Virginia applies the same three-year limitation to refunds and overpayment credits. The Department had no record of the 2011 return before January 2016, and a signed April 2012 copy plus preparer …
Could a taxpayer challenge Virginia's 2008 and 2012 income-tax assessments after the 90-day administrative appeal periods expired?
No. The 2008 and 2012 assessments were issued in April 2011 and August 2013, making the appeal deadlines July 2011 and November 2013. The taxpayer did not appeal until February 2015, so Virginia could…
Could a retailer obtain a 2010 Accelerated Sales Tax refund after the three-year claim deadline because it lacked notice of the limit?
No. The June 2010 payment was due July 20, 2010, but the Department did not receive the refund request until October 2014. Virginia's three-year deadline had expired, and claimed lack of notice or dif…
Does Virginia's three-year refund limitation also apply when an individual elects an overpayment credit?
Yes. Virginia treated a refund and an elected overpayment credit as functionally equivalent under Va. Code § 58.1-499. Because the 2011 return was filed in June 2015, after the May 1 deadline, the cre…
Was an October 2015 refund claim timely for Virginia income-tax assessments issued in 2005?
No. The submitted 2001 and 2003 returns did not show changes and arrived more than two years after assessment payments. The assessments were also not paid and the protective claim was not filed within…
Could Virginia consider an administrative appeal filed December 10 when the 90-day deadline expired November 23?
No. The August 25 assessment had to be appealed by November 23, 2015, but the taxpayer filed on December 10, so the administrative appeal was time-barred. Virginia still allowed 30 days to file a 2012…
Could buyers use a transferred 2006 Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credit on their 2012 return after its five-year carryover expired?
No. A Land Preservation Tax Credit earned in 2006 could be carried only through 2007-2011. The later 10-year carryover applied only to property conveyed on or after January 1, 2007. The Department had…
Can a taxpayer bypass Virginia's refund deadline by carrying a late-claimed overpayment forward as a credit to the next year?
No. Virginia treated a request to credit an overpayment to another tax year as subject to the same three-year limitation as a cash refund. The 2011 return was due May 1, 2012, so the taxpayer had to f…
Could a taxpayer obtain full Virginia refunds for 2009-2013 by claiming foreign domicile after filing 2009 late and retaining strong Virginia ties?
No. The 2009 full-refund claim was filed after the three-year deadline, and the two-year assessment-payment exception did not apply because the domicile claim went beyond the IRS-income adjustment ass…
Could Virginia consider a dental-practice sales-tax appeal faxed November 25 when the 90-day filing period expired November 20?
No. The August 21 assessments had to be appealed by November 20, 2015 under Virginia's 90-day rules, but the dental practice faxed its challenge on November 25. The Tax Commissioner therefore could no…
Did timely protective claims produce additional Virginia refunds for the taxpayer's 2010 and 2011 overpayments?
No. The protective claim itself was timely, but the underlying 2010 original return was filed after the three-year refund deadline, so that overpayment could not be refunded. The 2011 refund had alrea…
Was a California resident's February 2015 amended Virginia return timely after California changed her 2010 tax liability that same month?
Yes. Although the ordinary three-year period for amending the 2010 Virginia return had expired, Virginia law allowed one year after another state's final tax change. California disallowed its credit i…
Was a Virginia sales-tax appeal timely when the 90th day fell on Sunday but the envelope was postmarked Tuesday?
No. The 90th day fell on Sunday, so Virginia extended the filing deadline only through Monday, the Commonwealth's next business day. The taxpayer's appeal was postmarked Tuesday—one day late—so the De…
Could a qualified funeral trust contest Virginia fiduciary assessments after filing its first appeal letter beyond the 90-day deadline?
No. Virginia required a complete administrative appeal within 90 days of each assessment. The trustee's first appeal correspondence arrived well after the deadline even for the most recent assessment,…
Could unfamiliarity with Virginia law or website language save a 2010 refund claim filed after the limitations period?
No. Virginia held that the automatic extension still required filing by the extended due date and timely payment of the estimated balance. Because the taxpayers did neither, the refund period ran from…
Did an initial letter that questioned Virginia sales-tax assessments count as a complete appeal before the 90-day deadline?
No. The initial letter merely questioned the assessments and did not fully identify the alleged errors, supporting facts, requested remedy, or controlling authority. Virginia warned the taxpayer and g…
Did paying by the original due date preserve Virginia's six-month extension when the original 2010 return was filed after the extended deadline?
No. A valid extension required both timely estimated payment and filing the original return within the six-month extended period. Because the return was filed after that period, Virginia treated the e…
Could Virginia extend the three-year deadline for sales-tax refunds voluntarily overpaid from February 2008 through March 2012?
No. The latest disputed period's three-year refund deadline expired before the taxpayer's May 2015 request. Virginia law authorized refunds only through a timely amended return and provided no applica…
Was Virginia's bank-deposit estimate of a pawn shop's unreported sales valid when records were seized, and what audit adjustments were required?
The bank-deposit estimate was reasonable because records were unavailable and the auditor excluded identified nontaxable deposits while using the representative's cash-sales testimony. But Virginia re…
Could Virginia still assess related corporations for 2000-2004 royalty transactions when one filed returns and the intangible affiliate did not?
For the filing corporation, the ordinary assessment period generally barred a royalty adjustment unless fraud or an in-period net-operating-loss carryforward issue applied. For the affiliate that had …
Was a 2014 Virginia amended return claiming credit for another state's 2009 assessment filed within the special one-year period?
Unresolved. The normal May 3, 2013 deadline had passed, but Virginia law allowed one year from another state's final determination. Because the record did not establish when that determination became …
Could taxpayers apply a claimed 2008 Virginia overpayment to 2009 tax when their first 2008 return was filed in June 2014?
No. Applying an overpayment to another year's liability was subject to the same deadline as a refund. The 2008 return was due May 1, 2009 but was not filed until June 17, 2014, so Virginia denied the …
Could Virginia devalue a land-preservation credit carryforward when the original 2008-2009 assessment periods had expired?
Yes, for the unused carryforward. Virginia could not assess the owners' closed 2008 and 2009 returns, but it could reduce remaining credit and assess later open years. It accepted the Department's $26…
Did a federal extension give a taxpayer until July 2014 to file an original 2010 Virginia return claiming a refund?
No. Because the taxpayer did not file the original Virginia return by the extended due date, the Virginia extension was negated and the refund period ran from the original May 2, 2011 due date. The Ju…
Was an April 2014 claim timely for a corporate estimated payment deemed paid and self-assessed on September 15, 2009?
No. With no return filed, the estimated payment and self-assessment were deemed made on September 15, 2009. The protective-claim period expired September 17, 2012, so the corporation's April 2014 requ…
Could severe illness extend Virginia's refund deadline when a 2010 joint return claiming a refund was filed in June 2014?
No. The 2010 return had to be filed by May 2, 2014 to preserve the refund, but the wife and husband's estate filed it in June. Virginia law required a fiduciary or authorized agent to file for a disab…
Could taxpayers deduct long-term care premiums paid in 2009 and 2010 on their 2011 Virginia return after the earlier refund periods expired?
No. Under the taxpayers' cash method, long-term care premiums were deductible only in the year paid. Their 2011 return could include the 2011 premium, not premiums paid in 2009 or 2010, and the three-…
Could late 2005-2009 overpayments be credited to 2012-2013 assessments when disability prevented the taxpayer from filing until March 2014?
No. Applying an overpayment to later tax is still subject to the refund deadline. The taxpayer filed the 2005-2009 returns in March 2014, after every limitation period had expired, and disability did …
Did a federal filing extension preserve a Virginia refund when the original 2010 state return was not filed until September 2014?
No. A federal extension did not establish a Virginia extension, and filing the original state return after the extended due date negated the state election. The refund period reverted to the May 2, 20…
Could taxpayers carry a 2010 overpayment into 2011 when their original 2010 return was filed after Virginia's refund deadline?
No. The same three-year limitation that barred a cash refund also barred carrying the overpayment forward. Because the original 2010 return was filed in June 2014, after the May 2, 2014 deadline state…
Could Virginia excuse a refund claim filed several weeks after the three-year deadline because the taxpayer was traveling and unfamiliar with the law?
No. The original 2010 return was filed in June 2014, after the May 2, 2014 refund deadline stated in the ruling. Va. Code § 58.1-499 D gave the Department no discretion to excuse the late filing based…
How did Virginia classify and situs an engineering-services company's BPOL receipts, and could it appeal a vehicle BTPP assessment?
Virginia found the company was a business-service provider, not a contractor, for 2009-2010 and ordered a classification-based refund. It remanded 2011-2012 classification and situs for records, denie…
Did Virginia's seven-year collection limit bar a 2014 collection effort on sales-tax assessments converted to a responsible officer in 2004?
No. The converted bills were governed by the 20-year collection period in effect when the 2003-2004 assessments were issued, not the seven-year period in the 2015 statute. Virginia's 2014 collection e…
Was a Virginia refund claim timely when an overseas taxpayer filed on July 1, three years after the automatic extended due date?
Yes. Because the taxpayer was overseas on the original May 1 due date, Virginia's July 1 extension applied automatically. The return claiming a refund was filed exactly three years after that extended…
Could Virginia residents keep a credit for Maryland tax on reciprocal wages after Maryland's refund deadline had expired?
No. Maryland-Virginia reciprocity made the residents' Maryland wages exempt from Maryland tax, so the Virginia credit did not apply. Virginia issued its assessment within three years of the return due…
Must Virginia finish collecting an assessed tax within seven years, or only begin a collection effort within that period?
Virginia's position was that it must make or institute a collection effort within seven years after assessment, but it need not finish collection within those seven years. Once some collection action …
Was a Virginia corporate refund return timely when filed within one year after an IRS adjustment to NOL carrybacks, despite the ordinary three-year period?
Yes. The IRS finalized adjustments to 2001-2002 NOL carrybacks in August 2012, and the corporation filed its amended 2000 Virginia return in March 2013. That was within the special one-year period for…
Could a taxpayer overturn a late-penalty assessment and IRS-based estimated assessments after missing the appeal deadline and failing to file returns or records?
Not on the existing record. The 2008 appeal was filed well after Virginia's 90-day deadline, and the 2009-2011 estimates remained presumed correct because returns and supporting records were missing. …
Was a September 2013 refund claim for tax year 2009 timely when the taxpayers paid by the original due date and filed within Virginia's extension period?
Yes. Because the taxpayers paid the full estimated balance by the May 2010 due date and filed their original return before the six-month extended due date, the three-year refund period ran from that e…
Did a timely appeal of a foreign-source-income adjustment preserve unrelated audit issues that were first raised more than 90 days after assessment?
No. The original timely appeal challenged only the foreign-source-income subtraction. Because the taxpayer did not identify the other alleged audit errors within 90 days of the December 2011 assessmen…
Could a corporation obtain administrative relief after appealing Virginia corporate-income-tax assessments beyond the 90-day deadline?
No administrative appeal relief was available because the corporation filed on March 28, 2014, after both 90-day deadlines, and it did not identify an assessment error. Virginia instead gave it 30 day…
Did Virginia's automatic six-month extension preserve a 2008 refund when the taxpayers did not file the original return until October 2012?
No. Because the taxpayers did not file the original 2008 return by the extended due date, the extension was negated and the timely-filing date reverted to May 1, 2009. Their three-year refund period e…
Did Virginia violate a transferee's taxpayer rights or miss the assessment deadline when it reduced a transferred Land Preservation Tax Credit?
No. Virginia upheld the assessment. The credit-award letter warned that the conservation-easement value remained subject to audit and adjustment, the Department gave notice and appeal opportunities, a…
Could a taxpayer challenge a 2000 Virginia assessment in 2012 by demanding that the Department first prove it was correct?
No. The assessment was issued June 6, 2003, but the taxpayer did not appeal until November 2012, long after Virginia's 90-day deadline. Department records also showed earlier notices to the same addre…
Was a Virginia tax appeal filed by fax two days after the 90-day deadline considered timely?
No. The assessment was dated November 5, 2013, so a complete administrative appeal was due February 3, 2014. The taxpayer's fax arrived February 5—two days late—and Virginia treated the application as…
Could buyers of a transferred land-preservation credit avoid interest because Virginia later reduced the easement value or the seller promised indemnity?
No. Virginia timely assessed the couple after the donor and Department agreed to a lower easement value, and statutory interest on the resulting underpayment was mandatory. The donor's private indemni…
Browse Virginia rulings by topic
These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by Virginia's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.