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.
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Did a Virginia domiciliary stop being a resident while working abroad when he kept his Virginia home, driver's license, vehicles, and returned to that home?
No. The taxpayer did not prove that he abandoned Virginia and established a new permanent or indefinite domicile abroad. He kept his Virginia home available, retained his driver's license and two vehi…
Were a service member and spouse both exempt from Virginia resident tax merely because they claimed the same out-of-state military domicile?
No. Virginia accepted that the husband remained domiciled in State A, though his Virginia farm could require a nonresident return. The wife did not prove she had ever been physically present or domici…
Did keeping a Virginia driver's license and using a Virginia tax-return address prevent a worker from changing domicile to another state?
No. The worker leased a home near his State A job, moved his belongings, had State A withholding, and did not vote or renew his license in Virginia while away. Considering all the evidence, Virginia f…
Did a couple living abroad avoid all Virginia filing duties after proving they changed domicile but continued to own Virginia rental property?
No. Virginia accepted that the couple had established domicile abroad and were not Virginia residents in 2013. But their Virginia rental properties produced Virginia-source income, so they still had t…
Did a taxpayer prove he was only a part-year Virginia resident when his return and records showed substantial Virginia ties?
No. His part-year return listed Virginia residence for the entire year while assigning all income outside Virginia, and he failed to document the claimed State A domicile. A Virginia address, driver's…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act exempt a military spouse who formed extensive Virginia ties and stayed after the service member retired?
No. The Act protected a spouse present solely because of military orders, but did not prevent the spouse from voluntarily acquiring Virginia domicile. Her Virginia voter registration, home purchase, s…
What Virginia returns did a temporarily assigned employee owe when she worked and kept housing in Virginia but moved among several states?
She had to file a 2012 nonresident return for Virginia-source work and a 2013 resident return because the evidence indicated Virginia domicile. If she could prove she moved and changed domicile to Sta…
Was a Pennsylvania-domiciled college student a full-year Virginia resident when he kept Virginia housing and moved here permanently after graduation?
Yes on the available evidence. Even if Pennsylvania domicile continued until July, the taxpayer likely maintained a Virginia place of abode from college in January through May and again after moving p…
Did filing both part-year and nonresident returns prove that a couple abandoned Virginia domicile during a brief 2015 absence?
No. The couple's filing history showed Virginia residence before and after an absence of less than six months, creating prima facie evidence that they never abandoned Virginia domicile. Because they d…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act preserve a military couple's claimed Florida domicile after they moved to Virginia under the wife's orders, bought a home, registered and voted in Virginia, and obtained Virginia licenses?
No. Military orders alone do not change domicile, but the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act also does not prevent a servicemember or spouse from acquiring a new domicile. The couple failed to show that …
Did working and renting a home in another state establish a new domicile when the taxpayer kept a Virginia home for family, Virginia vehicles, and a Virginia driver's license?
No. The taxpayer's State A job, rental, and resident returns showed ties there, but he retained a Virginia home for his former wife and children, three Virginia-registered vehicles, and renewed his Vi…
Could a taxpayer obtain abatement of a 2013 Virginia income-tax assessment with incomplete and conflicting evidence that she had moved to another state?
Not yet. The taxpayer's rental, address-change, and information-return records did not establish when she moved or whether she intended to remain in the other state, and some evidence conflicted. Beca…
Did foreign work assignments and purchasing property in another state establish a new domicile when the taxpayer returned to Virginia within six months?
No. The taxpayer's overseas work was temporary, his Virginia driver's-license record contradicted his claim that it had lapsed, Virginia tax continued to be withheld, and the property he bought in Sta…
Could a Virginia resident who moved during the year claim a credit for tax paid to the new state on income earned before the move?
Yes, for qualifying income earned in the other state while the taxpayer was still a Virginia resident and taxed by both states, subject to Virginia's statutory limits. But income earned while working …
Did working and leasing homes in Maryland establish Maryland domicile for 2011-2013 when the taxpayer filed Maryland nonresident returns naming Virginia as home?
No. The taxpayer worked and leased residences in Maryland but kept a Virginia license and vehicles and filed Maryland nonresident returns identifying Virginia as his residence. He did not prove a perm…
Did a former service member who lived abroad prove that he had abandoned Virginia domicile for 2012?
No. The taxpayer did not establish a permanent domicile in another state or country and retained Virginia ties, including a driver's license for much of the period and use of a Virginia family address…
Did living abroad and filing a prior part-year return prove that this taxpayer was no longer domiciled in Virginia in 2013?
Not on the evidence provided. Living abroad and filing a prior part-year return did not by themselves prove abandonment of Virginia domicile, especially with a Virginia address and driver's license st…
Did temporary work in two other states end this taxpayer's Virginia domicile for 2012 income-tax purposes?
No. The taxpayer did not show a permanent home or intent to remain in either other state, while continuing to use a Virginia family address and driver's license. Virginia treated him as a domiciliary …
Did moving to New Jersey for work establish a new domicile when the taxpayer kept Virginia licenses and described the move as temporary?
No. The taxpayer's New Jersey home, job, and resident return favored a move, but she kept Virginia driver's, vehicle, and voter registrations and described New Jersey as temporary while pursuing New Y…
Did a married couple abandon Virginia domicile by living and working in a U.S. territory for several years?
No. Although the couple leased a home and the husband worked in the territory, they retained their Virginia house, obtained Virginia driver's licenses and vehicle registration before returning, and th…
Did a husband's move to another state make the couple eligible to file a joint Virginia nonresident return for 2012?
No. The husband worked and lived in another state, but kept his Virginia home, license, vehicle registrations, and voter registration and returned in 2013. Virginia found no domicile change, treated h…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act keep this active-duty member's basic pay outside Virginia income tax?
No. Military orders alone do not change domicile, but a servicemember can voluntarily establish a new one. The taxpayer provided no proof of continued ties to the claimed home state and instead owned …
Was saying that he neither worked nor lived in Virginia enough to overturn this nonfiler's 2012 assessment?
No. The taxpayer supplied no objective evidence despite two Department requests, so he did not prove abandonment of Virginia domicile or overcome the assessment's presumption of correctness. He receiv…
Did a room lease and work aboard a vessel prove that this taxpayer abandoned Virginia domicile for 2012?
Not on the evidence provided. The taxpayer had a month-to-month room lease elsewhere and worked aboard a vessel most of each month, but renewed his Virginia driver's license in 2011 and ignored two re…
Did claiming residence in another state overturn this nonfiler's best-information Virginia assessment for 2012?
No. The taxpayer did not answer the Department's request for evidence showing abandonment of Virginia domicile, so the best-information assessment remained presumed correct. He received one final 30 d…
Did an asserted post-divorce move outside Virginia overturn this taxpayer's estimated 2012 resident income-tax assessment?
No. Virginia unemployment records covered all four quarters of 2012, the taxpayer retained Virginia DMV ties, and she supplied no evidence of living elsewhere that year. Because she did not complete t…
Did work in another state and later hotel stays in Pennsylvania end this taxpayer's Virginia domicile for 2011 through 2013?
No. An out-of-state employment letter did not prove a permanent new domicile, and temporary Pennsylvania hotel stays were not a permanent abode. Virginia treated the taxpayer as a domiciliary resident…
Did employment, a driver's license, and living in a camper in another state end the husband's Virginia domicile in 2013?
No. The husband worked and obtained a license in another state, but lived in a Virginia-registered camper, became a student, and retained a Virginia home, spouse, voter registration, vehicles, family,…
Did long-term work, housing, licensing, and marriage abroad establish that this taxpayer had left Virginia domicile by 2012?
Yes. Nearly two decades of employment abroad, leased homes, a foreign driver's license and vehicle registration, and marriage to a citizen of that country outweighed the taxpayer's retained Virginia l…
Did new evidence show that a taxpayer who moved to Virginia in late October 2012 was only a part-year resident?
Yes. New documentation showed that the taxpayer left his job and prior-state domicile and moved to Virginia in late October 2012. Virginia treated him as a part-year resident, requested Form 760PY wit…
Could a merchant mariner exclude 2012 wages from Virginia tax without proving domicile in another state?
No. Working outside Virginia did not establish a new domicile. The husband retained a Virginia home with his wife, vehicles, a driver's license, and other ties, and provided no evidence of permanent d…
Did frequent moves and uncertain startup employment prove that this taxpayer established permanent domicile outside Virginia in 2012?
No. The taxpayer described his startup job and residence in another state as uncertain, moved frequently, used a Virginia address on his federal return, retained and renewed a Virginia license, and ke…
Did Virginia tax wages earned during a roughly 150-day Virginia work stay by a West Virginia domiciliary resident?
No. The taxpayer established West Virginia domicile and stayed in Virginia for only about 150 days, below the actual-resident threshold. Virginia's reciprocal agreement exempted her Virginia wages as …
Did a taxpayer abandon her Virginia domicile when she moved to another state for employment in 2012?
Yes. Even assuming she had established Virginia domicile earlier, her move for employment, new permanent home, and other evidence showed that she abandoned it in 2012. Virginia abated the assessment.
Was a husband a Virginia domiciliary resident in 2011 when the couple claimed he remained domiciled elsewhere?
Yes. The evidence tied the husband to the couple's Virginia home, while the couple provided no proof that he maintained or acquired domicile elsewhere. He had to file as a Virginia resident for 2011.
Could a taxpayer overturn a Virginia residency assessment without providing the domicile records the Department requested?
Not on the existing record. The assessment was presumed correct, and the taxpayer had not supplied the requested domicile evidence. Virginia allowed one final 45-day opportunity to provide documentati…
When did a couple become Virginia residents for taxing a 2012 IRA distribution?
They became Virginia domiciliaries when they closed on their Virginia home in September 2012. Because the IRA distribution came in November, it was attributable to their Virginia-resident period and h…
Did taking a visiting-professor job in another state end a taxpayer's Virginia domicile?
No. The taxpayer showed employment in another state but did not prove a permanent home or other domicile ties there, while retaining a Virginia license, vehicle registrations, and mailing address. Vir…
Did the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act exempt a military spouse's income when the couple did not prove a shared out-of-state domicile?
Not on the record provided. The couple did not prove that both spouses shared the claimed out-of-state domicile or avoided Virginia domicile. Virginia gave them 30 days to provide complete records or …
Did military-spouse status exempt a taxpayer who had established Virginia domicile before the federal protection changed?
No. The taxpayer's pre-2009 resident returns, Virginia home and employment, and 2009 Virginia driver's license supported Virginia domicile. She supplied no documentation proving a shared out-of-state …
Was gain from an out-of-state property sale excluded when the taxpayers had already bought a Virginia home and reported moving before the sale?
No. The taxpayers did not prove that their Virginia domicile began after the September 24, 2012 sale. Their August home purchase, time spent in Virginia, vehicle record stating a September 17 move, la…
Did a retiree living in Virginia for more than 183 days owe Virginia tax on New York retirement income?
Yes. The retiree took steps to abandon New York and establish Virginia domicile, and she also lived in Virginia for more than 183 days. Virginia could tax her retirement income, subject to a possible …
Did renting a District of Columbia apartment establish a new domicile outside Virginia for 2012?
No. Renting a D.C. apartment and later registering to vote there did not prove a permanent D.C. domicile, especially without evidence of a D.C. tax filing and amid an overseas move followed by a retur…
When did a family that moved for work, schools, and a home purchase become Virginia residents?
Their Virginia residency began in September 2012. By then the husband had permanent Virginia work, the children attended Virginia schools, and the family was staying in Virginia before buying a home. …
Could a taxpayer overturn a Virginia assessment merely by denying residence and Virginia-source income?
No. The taxpayer supplied no objective evidence supporting his denial of Virginia residence or Virginia-source income. Virginia allowed one final 30-day opportunity to provide domicile records or file…
Was an out-of-state driver's license alone enough to overturn a Virginia residency assessment?
No. An out-of-state driver's license was only one domicile factor, and the taxpayer did not answer Virginia's request for the rest of the evidence. Virginia allowed 30 days for adequate documentation …
Could a taxpayer prove foreign domicile for 2010 and 2011 without answering Virginia's document request?
Not on the existing record. The taxpayer had filed Virginia resident returns for 2005 and 2006 and supplied no documents supporting foreign domicile for 2010 and 2011. Virginia allowed 30 days for ade…
Could a taxpayer reduce a 2012 Virginia assessment by saying she moved to Virginia in August and earned all income elsewhere?
Not without supporting records. The taxpayer acknowledged Virginia's request but did not provide enough evidence to determine her domicile or correct 2012 liability. Virginia upheld the estimate while…
Could a taxpayer establish an out-of-state move during 2012 without providing the residency and filing records Virginia requested?
No, not on the existing record. The taxpayer said she lived in another state from August 2011 until November 2012 but provided no objective residency or filing evidence. Virginia allowed 30 days for d…
Was a lump-sum pension taxable when received after signing an out-of-state home contract but before closing and moving?
Yes. Signing a purchase contract showed intent but did not create the physical presence required for a new domicile. The couple remained Virginia residents until the February 29 closing, so the pensio…
Did living and working in another state for 2012 end Virginia domicile when the taxpayer kept a Virginia license and voter registration?
No. The taxpayer lived and worked elsewhere and registered a vehicle there, but kept her Virginia driver's license and voter registration and returned in 2013. Virginia found no permanent abandonment …
Did a former Virginia resident owe 2014 Virginia tax on out-of-state wages and an early retirement withdrawal from a Virginia business?
No. She had established a home and employment in another state and was neither a Virginia domiciliary nor actual resident. Her out-of-state wages and retirement withdrawal were not Virginia-source inc…
Was a retiree with no claimed permanent home still a Virginia domiciliary resident for 2012?
Yes. Although he spent about 120 days in Virginia and moved among several states, he used a Virginia family address for mail and his federal return and held a Virginia driver's license. With no eviden…
Did a foreign service officer become a Virginia domiciliary resident before an overseas assignment?
No. His continuing driver's license and voter registration showed that he had not abandoned his original state's domicile, so Virginia abated the resident assessment. But his Virginia employment wages…
Could a taxpayer limit Virginia's 2012 assessment by saying he moved to Virginia in October without supplying residency records?
Not yet. The taxpayer conceded tax on a post-move IRA distribution but did not provide the other-state return or domicile records Virginia requested. The assessment remained presumptively correct, wit…
Was a researcher a Virginia domiciliary despite claiming fewer than 90 Virginia days and residence elsewhere?
Yes. The researcher kept a Virginia apartment and vehicle, held a Virginia driver's license, and used a Virginia address on his 2011 federal return. Later out-of-state records and an unsigned lease di…
Was a military spouse protected from Virginia tax when he claimed the service member's domicile but had never been physically present in that state?
No for the husband. The service member remained domiciled in the other state, but her husband had never lived there and therefore could not have acquired that domicile. His Virginia home, employment, …
Did an unsupported claim of moving away overcome Virginia's estimated 2008 resident income-tax assessment?
No. The taxpayer provided no objective proof that he abandoned Virginia and acquired another domicile, while a Virginia driver's license was reissued during 2008. Virginia left the estimated assessmen…
Did a temporary employer-required assignment outside Virginia make the employee a part-year Virginia resident for 2012?
No. The employee kept her Virginia home, driver's license, vehicle registration, and voter registration and returned when the temporary assignment ended. Virginia taxed all of her 2012 income, upheld …
Did a couple's unsupported claim of living in another state overcome Virginia's estimated 2012 resident assessment?
No. The couple offered no objective evidence that they abandoned Virginia and acquired another domicile, so they did not overcome the presumed-correct estimate. Virginia allowed 30 days to provide ade…
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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.