How to Make Virginia Individual Estimated Tax Payments

If you expect to owe Virginia more than $150 in income tax beyond what your employer withholds, you have to make Virginia estimated tax payments in four installments due May 1, June 15, September 15, and January 15. The payments cover income that doesn’t have tax taken out at the source — self-employment earnings, rental income, capital gains, dividends, interest, and retirement distributions without Virginia withholding elected.

Who Has to Pay

Virginia Code § 58.1-490 requires every resident and nonresident individual to file a declaration of estimated tax when their expected Virginia liability, after deductions, subtractions, and credits, exceeds the threshold the Tax Commissioner has set.¹ In practice, you can skip estimated payments if any of the following is true:²

Your expected Virginia adjusted gross income is below $11,950 (single or married filing separately) or $23,900 (married filing jointly).
Your expected tax liability exceeds withholding and credits by $150 or less.

Everyone else with meaningful non-wage income needs to pay quarterly. The most common triggers are freelance and contractor pay, rental profits, investment gains, and business distributions.

How Much to Pay Each Quarter

Virginia gives you two safe harbors. Meet either one, and you avoid the underpayment penalty even if you still owe a balance at filing:³

Prior-year method (100%). Pay through withholding and installments an amount at least equal to last year’s total Virginia tax. This works only if your prior return covered a full 12 months and showed a tax due.
Current-year method (90%). Pay at least 90% of what you’ll actually owe this year.

The prior-year approach is the easier path when your income swings from year to year. Take line 19 from last year’s Form 760, subtract the withholding you expect this year, and split what’s left into four equal installments.⁴ The current-year approach can shrink your quarterly payments if income drops, but underestimating exposes you to penalty on the shortfall.

Form 760ES includes a worksheet that walks the calculation through step by step using your expected Virginia AGI, filing status, exemptions, and any credits you expect.² If your income picture changes mid-year, you can amend the declaration and adjust the remaining installments up or down.⁵

The Four Deadlines

The Virginia schedule doesn’t follow even quarters. The first two payments are only about six weeks apart, which surprises people every year:

1st installment: May 1
2nd installment: June 15
3rd installment: September 15
4th installment: January 15 of the following year

Those dates assume you file the declaration on or before May 1 and pay in four equal installments.⁵ If you don’t realize until later in the year that you need to pay, the schedule shortens:

File after May 1 but by June 15: three equal payments due at filing, September 15, and January 15.
File after June 15 but by September 15: two equal payments due at filing and January 15.
File after September 15: the full amount is due immediately.

When a deadline lands on a weekend or legal holiday, the payment is on time if made the next business day.⁶

How to Submit a Payment

Form 760ES is the paper voucher. Download the current-year version from the Virginia Department of Taxation, fill in your Social Security number (and your spouse’s if filing jointly), the tax period, and the amount, then mail it with a check to Department of Taxation, P.O. Box 1478, Richmond, VA 23218.² Some localities also accept vouchers at the local Commissioner of the Revenue’s office.

Electronic options are eForms (a fillable online version of the 760ES) and Individual Online Payments, both on the Virginia Tax website. Each debits your bank account directly and produces a confirmation number that serves as your receipt. Electronic payments cut down on misapplied checks and give you an instant record.

What Happens If You Underpay

Virginia labels the underpayment charge an “addition to tax” rather than a penalty, but you still owe extra. The addition accrues on each underpaid installment from its due date until either May 1 of the following year or the date you pay, whichever comes first.⁴ The rate is the federal underpayment rate under Internal Revenue Code § 6621(a)(2) plus two percentage points, which adjusts quarterly.⁷

You won’t owe the addition if any of these apply:³

Each installment equals or exceeds the matching amount from your prior year’s tax (12-month return with tax due).
Each installment is at least 90% of the tax owed on actual or annualized income for the period.
The combined underpayment across all four installments is $150 or less.
Your total tax liability after credits is $150 or less for the year.

Form 760C is where you show the calculation, either to figure what you owe or to prove an exception. If you weren’t required to make four installments (say you picked up freelance income mid-year), filing 760C matters. Without it, the Department will assume all four were due and may assess a penalty that shouldn’t apply.⁶

Special Cases

Farmers, fishermen, and merchant seamen. If at least two-thirds of your annual gross income comes from farming, fishing, or work as a merchant seaman, the current-year safe harbor drops to 66⅔% instead of 90%.⁴ You can also skip quarterly installments entirely if you file your annual return and pay the full balance by March 1.⁶

Active-duty military. Service members who qualify for an extension under Virginia Code § 58.1-344 don’t have to file estimated declarations or make installments during the extension period. This covers deployments to designated combat zones and contingency operations. Military spouses in Virginia solely because of their service member’s orders may have wages exempt under the federal Military Spouse Residency Relief Act; file Form VA-4 with your employer to stop withholding, or Form 763-S to reclaim tax already withheld.

Part-year residents. A move into or out of Virginia mid-year doesn’t excuse estimated payments on income earned as a Virginia resident or from Virginia sources. Certain deductions and exemptions are prorated by period of residency, and the 760ES worksheet handles that adjustment.

If You Overpay

When your withholding and estimated payments together beat your final liability, you can either take a refund on your annual return or apply the overpayment to next year’s first installment. Rolling it forward is the simpler choice if you expect to owe estimated tax again, since it reduces or covers the May 1 payment automatically. Factor the credit into your remaining installments so you don’t pay the same money twice.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-490 – Declarations of Estimated Tax
2
Virginia Department of Taxation. Form 760ES – Virginia Estimated Income Tax Payment Vouchers for Individuals
3
Virginia Tax. Individual Estimated Tax Payments
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-492 – Failure by Individual, Trust or Estate to Pay Estimated Tax
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-491 – Payments of Estimated Tax
6
Virginia Department of Taxation. Instructions for Form 760C – Underpayment of Virginia Estimated Tax
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-15 – Rate of Interest