Residency Status
Who is a resident?
There are two classes of residents: (a) domiciliary residents and (b) actual residents. The entire income of every domiciliary and actual resident of Virginia is subject to income taxation by this state, regardless of whether the income was received from sources in Virginia. Income received from Virginia sources by a nonresident is also subject to Virginia income tax. Domiciliary and actual residents for the full year should file Form 760 or Form 760S.
Domiciliary Residents
Domiciliary residents are those whose legal domicile in the technical sense is Virginia. Persons who have not abandoned their legal Virginia domicile are still domiciliary residents even though they may be actually living somewhere else.
Actual Residents
Actual residents are those who have their place of abode in Virginia for a total of more than 183 days of the taxable income year, even though their domiciliary residence (legal domicile) is in another state or country.
Students
The rules for determining whether a student who attends school in Virginia or outside of Virginia is a resident or nonresident of Virginia are the same as for anyone else.
For example, if your permanent home is in Alabama and you lived in Virginia (or had a place of abode in Virginia) for more than a total of 183 days of the taxable year while attending college in Virginia, you would be considered an actual resident of Virginia. You would file a Virginia resident return on your income, regardless of whether or not the income was from Virginia sources. Likewise, if your permanent home is in Virginia and you lived in another state while attending college in that state, you would still be a domiciliary resident of Virginia. You would file a Virginia resident return on all of your income, regardless of whether or not the income was from Virginia sources.
A student or anyone else who has unearned income, with earned income less than $3,000 and may be claimed as a dependent on another's income tax return, may be subject to a limited standard deduction.
If you are subject to tax by Virginia and another state on the same income, you may be eligible for an out-of-state tax credit on the Virginia resident return (or a state of residence tax credit on the Virginia nonresident return if you are not a Virginia resident).
If you do not qualify as a domiciliary or actual resident of Virginia and had income from Virginia sources, you would file as a nonresident, as explained below in the "Who is a nonresident" section.
Who is a nonresident?
If you are neither a domiciliary nor an actual resident according to the definitions above, then you are taxable as a nonresident on any income you received from labor performed, business done, or property located in Virginia, including gains from sales, exchanges, or other dispositions of real estate and intangible personal property having a sites in Virginia. See the Virginia Nonresident Individual Income Tax Return, Form 763, and instructions for more information.
If you were a domiciliary or actual resident of Virginia during a part of the taxable year and taxed as a resident for only that portion of the year, you are still liable as a nonresident for any Virginia source income derived from property owned or from any business, trade, profession or occupation carried on during the period you were not a resident of Virginia.
Special Instructions for Certain Nonresidents
If you are a resident of Maryland, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia and are earning salaries and wages in Virginia, you will be exempt from filing a Virginia income tax return and paying income tax to Virginia provided:
- your only income from sources in Virginia was from salaries and wages;
such salaries and wages are subject to income taxation by Maryland, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia; and - you are not a domiciliary or actual resident of Virginia.
Who must file?
Filing Threshold
You must file an individual income tax return if your:
| Filing Status is | And your VAGI is greater than or equal to: |
|---|---|
| Single | $11,250 |
| Married, filing jointly (both have VA source income) | $22,500 |
| Married, spouse has no income from any source | $11,250 |
| Married, filing separate return | $11,250 |
Your Virginia Adjusted Gross Income (VAGI) is the amount computed on line 10 of Form 763. As a general rule, your VAGI is the same as your Federal Adjusted Gross Income (FAGI) if your income is only from wages and salaries, and interest from a savings or checking account.
You are not required to file a return if your VAGI was less than the threshold amount.
(Source: Virginia Department of Taxation)
