TaxtirementState guides · VA
How Virginia taxes retirement income
- Virginia doesn't tax Social Security benefits.
- Exclusions and subtractions for retirement income (details below):
- Age deduction: from age 65, at most $12,000 per person, income limits apply.
- Rates for 2026: 2% to 5.75%, graduated.
At a glance
| Income tax | Yes |
|---|---|
| Rates (2026) | 2% to 5.75%, graduated |
| Starts from | Federal adjusted gross income (AGI) |
| Standard deduction | $8,750 single, $17,500 married filing jointly |
| Personal exemption | $930 per person |
| Age 65 and older | $800 extra exemption per person |
| Social Security | Not taxed |
| Retirement income exclusions | 1 (see below) |
| Roth conversions | Taxable |
| Capital gains | Taxed like other income |
| Local income tax | None |
Tax rates
Brackets apply to Virginia taxable income. Other filing statuses are in the rules reference.
| Rate | Single: taxable income | Married filing jointly: taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $0 to $3,000 | $0 to $3,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 to $5,000 | $3,000 to $5,000 |
| 5% | $5,000 to $17,000 | $5,000 to $17,000 |
| 5.75% | $17,000 and up | $17,000 and up |
Social Security
Virginia doesn't tax Social Security benefits.
Pensions, IRAs and 401(k)s
Age deduction (Va. Code 58.1-322.03)
Up to $12,000 per person age 65+ (for TY2026: born on or before Jan 1, 1962 — TY2025 used Jan 1, 1961) deducted from any income. Fully phased out at AFAGI $62,000 single; $87,000 married with one claimant; $99,000 married with both claiming. A taxpayer claiming the age deduction may not claim the disability income subtraction, Credit for Low-Income Individuals, or Virginia EITC.
Income limit: Taxpayers born on or before Jan 1, 1939: full $12,000 with no income test. Others: reduced $1 for each $1 of AFAGI over $50,000 (single) or over $75,000 (all married taxpayers, joint or separate, using the couple's COMBINED AFAGI). AFAGI = federal AGI +/- conformity adjustments - taxable Social Security/Tier 1 RR benefits. If both spouses claim, the joint max is $24,000 reduced by excess, then split equally.
Roth conversions
A Roth conversion counts as taxable income for Virginia. Whether a retirement income exclusion can cover part of it depends on the rules above.
Capital gains
Taxed like other income, at the rates above.
Credits and relief for older residents
- Spouse Tax Adjustment. Married filing jointly where both spouses have income: up to $259 reduction in tax (Spouse Tax Adjustment Worksheet); both need Virginia taxable income; max reached when each spouse's taxable income >= $17,000.
- Credit for Low-Income Individuals. Available only if no age deduction and no 65+/blind exemptions claimed; based on federal poverty guidelines (not researched in detail).
More detail from our research notes
Rates are statutory and not indexed ($3,000/$5,000/$17,000 edges unchanged for decades); same schedule for all filing statuses. Standard deduction $8,750 single/MFS / $17,500 MFJ for TY2025 and TY2026; HB 30 (2026) sets $9,200/$18,400 for TY2027 and $9,300/$18,600 for TY2028-2029, then $3,000/$6,000 from TY2030 unless extended again (58.1-322.03(1)(b)); MFS is one-half of the married amount, HOH uses the single amount. Virginia has no head-of-household status in Taxtirement sense; unmarried filers use Filing Status 1 ($8,750). Must use the standard deduction if the federal return used it; itemizing allowed only if itemized federally (Virginia deconforms from the federal SALT cap for its own Schedule A but applies its own overall limitation, and subtracts state income tax). Personal exemption $930 each for you/spouse/dependents; additional $800 per person 65+ (age 65 on or before Jan 1 of the following year) or blind — not available if the Low-Income credit is claimed. Social Security and Tier 1 RR benefits taxable federally are subtracted (Form 760 line 5). No special capital gains treatment for individuals (besides narrow subtractions). Filing threshold (TY2025): VAGI $11,950 single/MFS, $23,900 MFJ. Tax computed rounding to whole dollars (50 cents up).
Pending confirmation
These points were still being confirmed against Virginia's published 2026 forms when this page was built. Most are waiting on forms the state publishes around the turn of the year.
3 items
- 2026 Form 760 instructions not yet published (expected December 2026-January 2027 at https://www.tax.virginia.gov/forms). The age-deduction birth-date cutoff for TY2026 (born on or before Jan 1, 1962) follows from 58.1-322.03(5)(b) 'attained the age of 65' and the 2025 instructions' Jan 1, 1961 for TY2025; confirm on the 2026 worksheet.
- Pease thresholds for 2026 (itemizedLimitThreshold*) are the 2025 Schedule A amounts; 2026 Schedule A not published.
- 2026 charity: TB 26-1 lists only Pease and the medical floor as itemized deconformities, so the federal 0.5%-of-AGI floor is taken to apply (federal Schedule A line 14 used).
Sources
Every figure comes from these documents, mostly the state's own forms, instructions and statutes.
- 2026 standard deduction remains $8,750 / $17,500 (2026 session new laws)https://tax.virginia.gov/news/new-virginia-tax-laws
- Va. Code 58.1-322.03 (current text, retrieved 2026-10-02): (1)(b) standard deduction only if not itemized federally; $8,750/$17,500 for 2025-2026, $9,200/$18,400 for 2027, $9,300/$18,600 for 2028-2029, $3,000/$6,000 from 2030 (MFS one-half of the married…https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter3/section58.1-322.03/
- Virginia Tax 2026 Legislative Summary: HB 30 (2026 Sp. Sess. I, ch. 1) standard deduction $9,200/$18,400 (TY2027), $9,300/$18,600 (TY2028-2029), sunset to $3,000/$6,000; no change to the age deduction; fixed IRC conformity Dec 31, 2025 with Pease kepthttps://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/2026-legislative-summary.pdf
- 2025 Form 760 instructions: rate schedule and $90,000 example, $930/$800 exemptions, age deduction worksheet ($12,000, $50k/$75k AFAGI), SS subtraction, standard deduction 2025-2026 and sunset, itemizing rule, Spouse Tax Adjustment $259https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/vatax-pdf/2025-760-instructions.pdf
Taxtirement's Virginia calculation is also checked against a second, independent implementation on 1,000 random households. How we check our numbers.
See your own years. Taxtirement applies these Virginia rules, and the federal and Medicare rules, to your household for every year of retirement, and shows the calculation behind each number. Coming November 2026 for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
This page summarizes Virginia's 2026 rules as Taxtirement applies them, for education and planning. It isn't tax advice, and it doesn't cover every situation (for example part-year residents, businesses or military-only provisions). Rules change; check the state's current instructions, or a tax professional, before you act. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.