Category: Taxes
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Revenue Hungry Democrats Fill a Buffet Table of Tax Bills
by Steve Haner Governor Abigail Spanberger so far is no more clear on her tax and spending priorities than Candidate Spanberger was, but her fellow Democrats in the General Assembly are laying out a smorgasbord of tax increase options for her. Would she like a major “tax the rich” approach? Start with Delegate Vivian…
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Keep RGGI Tax Off Customers? Good Luck With That
by Steve Haner Virginia Democrats are so eager to reinstate a carbon tax on Virginia’s electricity producers that there are now three pathways active to accomplish the goal: a bill, a budget amendment and a motion filed with the Virginia Court of Appeals. There is also discussion in the most recent Inside Climate News report…
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Data Centers Provide Property Tax Relief for Homeowners
by Hans Bader Data centers cut property taxes on homeowners, by providing lots of additional property to tax. The more property there is to tax, the less tax needs to be imposed on each property. Data centers use very few government services (unlike homeowners, who use things like schools and parks), so data centers don’t…
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Death and Taxes
by David Saunders Welcome to 2026! You’ll be getting a W-2 from your employer soon in the mail. It’s an annual reminder of what you made and what the government took in taxes. You might owe the IRS (like me) or you might get a refund (like many), but either way it’s still sobering to…
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Bills Would Make Virginia State Income Tax Highest in Nation
by Liberty Unyielding Staff Bills pending in the Virginia state legislature could raise the state income tax a lot. The bill most likely to pass would increase the state income tax rate from 5.75% to 8% on incomes over $600,000 and 10% on incomes over $1,000,000. Another bill would impose an additional 3.8% tax (a “net investment income…
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The “Targeted Relief” That Missed the Target
by Jon Baliles For years we have heard the city needs more affordable housing. For years we have heard that cutting the real estate tax rate only helps the rich. And for years, anytime someone brings up the discussion about offering relief to everyone, the conversation turns to the need for “targeted relief.” When the…
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Buckle Up. The General Assembly Is on Its Way
by Kerry Dougherty Virginia’s General Assembly convenes tomorrow in Richmond. But a handful of pre-filed bills give us a taste of what’s to come when Democrats come roaring back into power. Remember when Virginia Democrats promised to make Virginia more “affordable?” Yeah, about that. Not sure how authorizing localities to impose an additional sales tax…
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A State Income Tax Rate to 10% for $1 Million-per-Year Households?
by Hans Bader Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, has introduced a bill (HB 188) to increase state income taxes in Virginia, raising the marginal tax rate from 5.75% to 10% on people making over $1 million. Virginia already has higher state income taxes than most of its neighbors. Kentucky has a maximum tax rate of…
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A 10% Tax on Your Fantasy Football, Baseball?
by Steve Haner, Forget raising the income or sales tax, it appears the 2026 Virginia General Assembly may try to balance the state budget by imposing a new 10% tax on all the sports fantasy game players in the Commonwealth. Just when you think you know all the nooks and crannies of state government, another…
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The Deadly Consequences of Non-Compliant Nursing Home Reporting
by James C. Sherlock Regulators and law enforcement agencies cannot oversee what they do not understand. They do not understand nursing home management structures, and thus, business models of chains whose facilities, due to the core role of understaffing in those models, routinely abuse and cause the untimely deaths of residents. Section 1124(c) of…
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Youngkin Budget Proposes Partial State Deduction for Tips, OT
by Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed that Virginia conform its tax rules to most of the changes in federal taxes adopted by Congress last summer, including recognizing a state tax deduction for tip income, overtime pay and interest payments on car loans. Those tax policy recommendations are part of the Republican’s final…
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RGGI Tax Rose Again. How, When Does it Return to VA?
by Steve Haner, The regional carbon tax on electricity generation favored by Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger and legislative Democrats rose to a record amount in the December auction, $26.73 per ton of carbon emissions. That is a 20% increase from three months ago and is 4% higher than the previous top price, set last year. The…
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New Ways to Soak the Rich, But Tax Hikes Coming Will Be Broader
By Steve Haner, As a new Democratic Party trifecta looms in Virginia, a progressive policy group has floated a long list of old and new ways to soak Virginia’s upper income residents through taxes in order to fund additional state spending. The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis doesn’t use the word “spending,” of course, but speaks of “investments” in…
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Dems Will Likely Raise Taxes If They Win Tomorrow
by Hans Bader Last May, Virginia’s Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, vetoed a bill to allow all counties to raise the sales tax by 1%. Virginia’s Democratic legislature tried to override his veto, but fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to do so, in a 25-to-15 vote in the state senate. Analysts said most local…