Question for Virginia tax pros

[FEDUKE404]

Never mind.

[TAX4US]

Not to give you a short answer but as of this post VA is still out on many issues. Some of which you inquired about.

[TAX4US]

From what I hear is that Because of the Itemized deductions in 2017 being allowed, VA allowed. Now that the higher stnd on federal is knocking people out of the Schedule A. This forces VA tp to use their standard. This issue causes VA to get a tax increase without having to do anything. Manny TP's will now owe more tax to VA. Then with the SALT cap in place on Federal, will VA follow this rule? Apparently VA has many other issues to deal with now. Just my 2 cents worth. You may have a different take on this.

[Burke]

Virginia has had what they call Fixed Date Conformity for years. So every year, they have to decide whether to accept whatever changes the feds come up with or not for the previous year's filing. It may take until the end of the current legislative session since they only meet in the early part of the year.. When they figure it out, it is usually retroactive to Jan 1. They almost always do it eventually except for certain bonus depreciation and some other items. Whatever the IRS allowed, VA did the same. I expect VA to follow that same practice for 2018 returns, but who knows. You HAVE to itemize on VA if you itemize on the fed. You HAVE to take the standard on VA if you take the standard on the fed return. 9 other states do the same thing. (Although NY has de-coupled this year.) I wish they all would decouple, so you can take standard on the fed and itemize on the state. Strategy for some taxpayers: If they wind up with no taxable income, or very little, by itemizing on the fed -- even if it is not as much as $12K or $24K -- it may be beneficial to do so anyway in order to itemize on the state. I have done this in the past, but it always had to be pretty close to capture a benefit by doing so for my clients.. Exemptions were never part of this. VA's have been the same for a number of years, regardless of what the feds allowed on the 1040.

[Burke]

Apparently the wise folks in Richmond have just reached some kind of agreement (posting links here can create problems) but the gist of it is they are considering "rebates" later this year (just before state elections!!) to give some money back to the filers.

Oh, please post link......it's a gov't site?

[Burke]

Thanks. I got it. Awaiting details on increased standard deduction and to which year it will apply.

[Burke]

Well it is done! See Tax Bulletin 19-1 at https://tax.virginia.gov/tax-bulletins.