Key Considerations
Virginia relies heavily on the personal income tax
- Above average for all states
- Growing
Virginia’s income tax structure is very dated
- Some basic elements have not changed in over 75 years
- The most recent changes of any general, or widely applicable, sort occurred well over a decade ago
Virginia treats different taxpayers in similar circumstances very differently, violating horizontal equity
Virginia leaves significant – although varying – portions of poverty-level income in the tax base, violating vertical equity concerns