Virginia Beach Personal Property Tax: Rates, Deadlines, and Relief

The Virginia Beach personal property tax is charged at $4.00 per $100 of assessed value on vehicles and other tangible personal property you own on January 1 each year, with the first installment due June 5.¹² Most residents pay less than the sticker rate suggests, because Virginia’s Personal Property Tax Relief Act covers a chunk of the bill on qualifying personal-use vehicles. Military families, seniors, residents with disabilities, and 100% disabled veterans may owe even less or nothing at all.

What Gets Taxed

The $4.00 per $100 rate applies to automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, motor homes, trailers, and watercraft kept in Virginia Beach.¹ Ownership is fixed on January 1. Buy a car in March and you owe for the months it sat in the city that year; own a car on January 1 and sell it in April and you owe for those four months. The tax applies whether the vehicle is paid off, financed, or leased. On a lease, the party responsible for the tax is whoever the lease contract names.

How the City Values Your Vehicle

Under Virginia Code 58.1-3503, the Commissioner of the Revenue must use a recognized pricing guide to assess vehicles.³ Virginia Beach uses the January edition of the J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide (formerly the NADA guide) each year.⁴ The statute lets the commissioner choose among average retail, wholesale, or loan value, as long as the same method is applied uniformly across a property category. Vehicles that aren’t in the guide, including custom builds, specialty equipment, and older models, can be assessed as a percentage of original purchase price or by a comparable depreciation schedule.

High-Mileage Adjustments

If your vehicle has significantly more miles than the average for its model year, you can request a lower assessment. For 2026, the mileage thresholds published by the city are:⁴

2025: 20,001+ miles
2024: 35,001+ miles
2023: 45,001+ miles
2022: 60,001+ miles
2021: 70,001+ miles
2020: 85,001+ miles
2019: 95,001+ miles
2018: 105,001+ miles
2017: 120,001+ miles
2016: 130,001+ miles
2015: 140,001+ miles
2014: 150,001+ miles
2013: 155,001+ miles
2012 and older: 165,001+ miles

Current-year 2026 models don’t have a standard high-mileage threshold in the guide, but you can still appeal individually. To request an adjustment, submit the online Assessment Appeal Form through the Commissioner of the Revenue’s website. You can include up to five photos showing the vehicle’s condition as of January 1, 2026.⁴

When Payment Is Due

The first billing is due June 5.² If June 5 falls on a weekend or city holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.⁵ The city also offers installment plans that can run from July 5 through the following May 5, which spreads the annual bill across the year. You can pay online through the City Treasurer’s website, mail a check, or pay in person. Keep the receipt; you may need it for vehicle registration renewals.

Penalties and Interest If You Pay Late

Missing the deadline gets expensive quickly. The city adds a penalty of 10% of the total tax due or $10, whichever is greater, though the penalty won’t exceed the amount of the bill itself. Delinquent balances then accrue interest at 9.6% per year.² The city doesn’t send multiple reminders before penalties attach.

Personal Property Tax Relief Act

Virginia’s Personal Property Tax Relief Act (PPTRA) reduces the tax on qualifying personal-use vehicles. For 2026, Virginia Beach applies a 42.7% relief rate to the first $20,000 of assessed value on each qualifying vehicle.¹ Value above $20,000 is taxed at the full $4.00 rate.

Qualifying vehicles are privately owned passenger cars, motorcycles, autocycles, and pickup or panel trucks used for personal purposes.⁶ Business vehicles don’t qualify. Relief is applied automatically to your bill; no separate application is needed. The relief percentage changes year to year because it depends on how much the Commonwealth appropriates statewide relative to total qualifying vehicle values.⁷

In practice: on a car assessed at $15,000, the full tax is $600 ($15,000 ÷ 100 × $4.00). With the 42.7% PPTRA reduction, the state covers about $256, leaving roughly $344 owed. On a vehicle assessed at $30,000, relief still applies only to the first $20,000 of value, and you pay the full rate on the remaining $10,000.

Military Members and Spouses

Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, active-duty military members stationed in Virginia Beach whose legal domicile is another state are not subject to Virginia Beach personal property tax on their vehicles. You’ll need to document your home of record with the Commissioner of the Revenue. The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act extends similar protection: if you moved to Virginia Beach to be with your service member and your legal domicile is elsewhere, your vehicles are generally exempt. Active-duty members who lease vehicles are entitled to full PPTRA relief on the first $20,000 of value under state law.⁷

Seniors and Residents With Disabilities

Virginia Beach offers additional relief for residents 65 or older or who have a total and permanent disability. Eligibility turns on household income and total assets. For the current tax year, annual household income cannot exceed $87,419 for a tax exemption; incomes up to $114,062 may qualify for a tax freeze.⁸ You must file a formal application with the Commissioner of the Revenue, which will verify income and assets. Thresholds are set by city ordinance and can change year to year.

Disabled Veteran Vehicle Exemption

Veterans rated 100% permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition can exempt one vehicle from personal property tax entirely. The vehicle must be owned by the veteran or their spouse and used primarily by or for the veteran. Leased vehicles and vehicles registered to a business don’t qualify. Only one vehicle per qualifying veteran is eligible, so if you own two, exempt the one with the higher assessed value. Applications go through the Commissioner of the Revenue with documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirming your rating.

Selling, Moving, or Changing Vehicles

When you sell, trade, donate, or total a vehicle, notify both the Commissioner of the Revenue and the Virginia DMV. State law requires the DMV notification, which you can complete online at dmvnow.com or by phone.⁹ Don’t assume the dealership will do it; most dealers do not notify the DMV of trade-ins, which leaves you on the hook for continued tax bills.¹⁰

When you move out of the city, tax is prorated on a monthly basis under Virginia Code 58.1-3516, and you only owe for the months the vehicle had situs in Virginia Beach.¹¹ To get the adjustment, give the Commissioner’s office a copy of your new state registration plus proof of the move, such as a lease, closing statement, or utility bill at the new address.¹⁰ Refunds of overpaid tax are issued within 30 days of the adjustment. Refunds under $5 aren’t sent automatically unless you specifically ask for them.

Business Personal Property

Business-owned property is separate from the vehicle bill above and follows its own filing calendar. Any tangible personal property a Virginia Beach business owns on January 1, including machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures, and computer systems, is taxable at the same $4.00 per $100 rate. Business property is valued at 40% of original cost through a flat depreciation schedule.¹²

Every business must file a tangible personal property return (Form CR-13) by March 1 of the tax year.¹² Unlike the personal vehicle tax, which the Commissioner largely handles from DMV records, business property is self-reported. If you don’t file, the Commissioner will estimate your assessment. Business owners can file and pay through the VBePay portal on the Commissioner’s website.

1
City of Virginia Beach. Personal Property
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City of Virginia Beach. Personal Property
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3503 – General Classification of Tangible Personal Property
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City of Virginia Beach. Personal Property Appeals
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City of Virginia Beach. Commissioner of the Revenue – Tax Rates, Important Dates and Deadlines
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3523 – Definitions
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3524 – Tangible Personal Property Tax Relief
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City of Virginia Beach. Senior and Disabled Tax Relief Programs
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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Report a Vehicle Sold or Traded
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City of Virginia Beach. Donated, Moved, Sold, Totaled Vehicles
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Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3516 – Proration of Personal Property Tax
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City of Virginia Beach. Business Property