Virginia to issue $3.2 million tax rebates starting this week

By Tyler Arnold

(The Center Square) – About 3.2 million Virginia tax filers will receive one-time rebates from the state’s Department of Taxation beginning at the end of the week, Tax Commissioner Craig Burns announced.

The department plans to do a soft launch Friday and Saturday, but will ramp up its production Monday.

Eligible individual filers can receive up to $250 in rebates and eligible joint filers can receive up to $500 in rebates. Filers will only be eligible to receive a rebate if they had a tax liability after any credits, deductions or subtractions to which the tax filer is entitled. Only taxpayers who filed their taxes by Nov. 1 will be eligible for the rebat.

The Department of Taxation estimates that it will issue about 3.2 million rebates. About 1.9 million rebates will be issued through checks and about 1.3 million rebates will be issued through direct deposit. The department will issue checks if it does not have the filer’s banking information, if direct deposits were rejected, if a filer owes additional taxes or if the check includes partial rebates due to a taxpayer debt setoff.

About 2.9 million rebates should be issued before Oct. 10, according to the department’s projected timetable. The department plans to issue about 250,000 checks every day on Mondays through Saturdays: 150,000 direct deposits and 100,000 checks. Tax filers who returned their taxes before July 1 should get their rebates by Oct. 17 and those who returned them after July 1 should get their rebates within four months of filing.

The department is also setting up an online tool and a tool through its call center to help taxpayers find out whether they are eligible for rebates, how much money they will receive and when they should receive it. The department contracted with a third party to help with the projected influx of phone calls.

Earlier this year, lawmakers approved several tax cuts and a one-time tax rebate for certain taxpayers. The General Assembly allocated about $1 billion to provide rebates, but the specific amount that will be spent depends on how many taxpayers are eligible for relief.

In total, last year’s budget included about $4 billion in tax relief, which included the rebates, increasing the standard deduction, ending the state’s portion of the grocery tax and making the Earned Income Tax Credit partially refundable. Lawmakers failed to adopt a gas tax reduction, despite support from Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republican lawmakers.

The last time Virginia issued tax rebates was in 2019.