Virginia Personal Property Tax Rates by County and City

Virginia personal property tax rates by county and city range from $0.55 per $100 of assessed value in Bath County to $9.00 in Pittsylvania County, with most localities landing between $2.00 and $5.00 for motor vehicles.¹ Each of Virginia’s 95 counties and 38 independent cities sets its own rate every year during the local budget process, so where you live drives what you pay. On the same car, the difference between neighboring jurisdictions can run into hundreds of dollars.

Rates in Major Virginia Localities

Rates are stated as a dollar amount per $100 of assessed value. For tax year 2025:¹

Arlington County: $5.00
Fairfax County: $4.57
Loudoun County: $4.15
Prince William County: $4.15
Stafford County: $5.72
Spotsylvania County: $5.37
Chesterfield County: $3.35
Henrico County: $3.35
Roanoke County: $3.40
York County: $4.00

Among independent cities, Alexandria charges $5.33, Norfolk $4.33, Hampton $4.50, and Chesapeake $4.08.¹ Buena Vista sits at $5.85. Galax and Bristol come in lower, around $2.25 to $2.60.

Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads urban centers generally cluster between $4.00 and $5.50. Rural southwestern counties like Scott ($1.65), Wise ($1.65), Dickenson ($1.85), and Buchanan ($1.95) sit well under $2.00. Pittsylvania County is an outlier at $9.00, nearly double the next-highest county rate; the county’s assessment methodology and relief programs affect what residents actually pay, so a headline rate alone isn’t the full story.

Virginia’s independent cities operate separately from surrounding counties. If you live in the City of Richmond, you pay the city, not Henrico or Chesterfield. Residents of incorporated towns, though, may owe taxes to both the town and the surrounding county.

How Your Vehicle’s Assessed Value Is Set

The Commissioner of the Revenue in each locality determines the fair market value of your vehicle as of January 1.² That assessment applies to whoever owned the vehicle on that date, regardless of when the bill arrives later in the year.

Virginia law requires commissioners to use a “recognized pricing guide” and to apply the same valuation method to every vehicle in the same classification.³ Localities can pick which base to use from the guide: average retail, wholesale, or loan value, as long as they apply the choice uniformly. Most jurisdictions use the National Automobile Dealers Association guide, and many use NADA’s “clean trade-in” value.⁴ Others use loan value, which tends to produce a lower number.

If your vehicle isn’t in the pricing guide, the commissioner can value it as a percentage of original cost.³ This typically comes up with specialty vehicles, modified trucks, or older cars that have aged out of the guide.

How to Calculate the Tax Bill

Once the assessed value is set, the math is simple: divide the assessed value by 100, then multiply by the local rate. A car assessed at $20,000 in Fairfax County ($4.57) produces a base tax of $914. The same car in Henrico County ($3.35) produces $670. Any state-funded tax relief credit is subtracted from that base before you get the final bill.

Billing schedules vary. Many jurisdictions split the year into two installments due in June and December.⁵ Others send a single annual bill. Your local treasurer sets the exact due dates, and those can differ by a few days between neighboring localities.

The Personal Property Tax Relief Credit

The Personal Property Tax Relief Act of 1998 provides state-funded credits that lower your vehicle tax bill. The program doesn’t change local rates. Instead, the state reimburses localities a fixed total of $950 million a year, divided among jurisdictions based on shares locked in after tax year 2005.⁶ Because that pot hasn’t grown while vehicle values have, the relief percentage each locality can offer has shrunk over time.

To qualify, the vehicle must be a privately owned passenger car, motorcycle, autocycle, or pickup or panel truck registered at 10,000 pounds or less.⁷ It must be used predominantly for personal, not business, purposes. A vehicle fails the personal-use test if more than 50% of its mileage is deducted as a business expense on federal taxes, or if it’s expensed under Internal Revenue Code Section 179.⁸

The credit percentage varies by locality because each one splits its fixed state allocation across all qualifying vehicles. Henrico County, for example, provides 100% relief on vehicles assessed at $1,000 or less and 42% relief on qualifying vehicles assessed above $1,000, up to the first $20,000 of assessed value.⁹ Anything over $20,000 is taxed at the full rate with no relief. Percentages differ elsewhere, so check your treasurer’s website for your locality’s current figure.

Which Locality Taxes Your Vehicle

Your vehicle is taxed where it is normally garaged, docked, or parked, not necessarily where you hold your license or where you work.¹⁰ If you’re domiciled in another state but keep a vehicle mainly in Virginia, the vehicle is subject to Virginia personal property tax, though you can avoid it by showing you paid personal property tax on the same vehicle in your home state.

Full-time college students get a carve-out. If the student’s vehicle is garaged at school, the tax situs stays at the owner’s domicile rather than shifting to the college town, as long as the owner has paid personal property tax at that domicile.¹⁰

Proration When You Move Mid-Year

Many Virginia localities prorate personal property taxes when a vehicle enters or leaves the jurisdiction during the year, charging only for the months the vehicle was actually present. Vehicle proration is calculated by the month.¹¹ Move from Fairfax County to Loudoun County in April, and you’d owe Fairfax for the months through your departure and Loudoun for the rest.

There’s an important exception. When a vehicle moves between a locality that prorates and one that does not, the vehicle is taxed for the entire year by whichever jurisdiction it was in on January 1.¹¹ Not every Virginia locality prorates, so you can end up owing a full year in the old jurisdiction with no offsetting reduction in the new one. Check both localities before you move.

Reporting Purchases, Sales, and Moves

When you buy a vehicle or move into a Virginia locality, you have to report the vehicle to the local Commissioner of the Revenue. Many localities require this within 30 days.¹² Skipping the report doesn’t eliminate the tax; the bill just catches up later, often with penalties.

When you sell, trade, or junk a vehicle, notify both the Virginia DMV and your Commissioner of the Revenue. DMV handles title and registration; the Commissioner adjusts your personal property account. Miss this step and you may get a full-year bill on a car you no longer own, and unwinding it takes time.

Military and Disabled Veteran Exemptions

Active-duty servicemembers stationed in Virginia who are legal residents of another state are exempt from Virginia personal property tax on their vehicles under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.¹³ The vehicle can’t be deemed to have a tax situs in Virginia solely because the servicemember is stationed here. The exemption extends to a military spouse under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, provided the spouse is in Virginia solely to be with the servicemember and shares legal residency with them.¹⁴ Expect to provide a current Leave and Earnings Statement showing a home of record outside Virginia.

Virginia also exempts disabled veterans from personal property tax on one motor vehicle under Va. Code § 58.1-3668. The veteran must have a 100% service-connected, permanent, and total disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.¹⁵ The exemption covers one vehicle only, and you apply through the local Commissioner of the Revenue.

Late Payments and Enforcement

Virginia law authorizes localities to impose a penalty of up to 10% of the unpaid tax the day after the due date. Interest starts accruing at a rate that cannot exceed 10% per year for the first year of delinquency. For later years, the locality may charge either 10% annually or the federal underpayment rate under Internal Revenue Code Section 6621, whichever is greater. If the tax remains unpaid more than 30 days past due, the penalty can increase up to 25% of the outstanding balance.¹⁶ Localities can also recover attorney or collection agency fees of up to 20% of the delinquent amount.

Unpaid personal property taxes can block your DMV renewal. Virginia localities can request a stop on your DMV records, which prevents renewal or transfer of any vehicle registration in your name.¹⁷ DMV sends notice at least 30 days before your registration expires but doesn’t collect the tax. You resolve the debt directly with the locality, which then has 24 hours after payment to lift the stop.

In extreme cases, the local treasurer can seize personal property to satisfy the debt without a court order.¹⁸ This power, called collection by distress, is rare for routine vehicle taxes but is used on chronically delinquent accounts.

Appealing Your Assessment

If you believe your vehicle’s assessed value is too high, you can apply to the Commissioner of the Revenue for a correction within three years from the last day of the tax year or one year from the date of the assessment, whichever is later.¹⁹ The strongest appeals involve damage, excessive mileage, or mechanical problems that make the pricing-guide value unrealistic. Bring documentation. Repair estimates, mileage records, and comparable sale prices carry more weight than the argument that the number feels wrong.

If the Commissioner denies the correction, you can escalate to the Virginia Tax Commissioner within 90 days of the final local determination.²⁰ For an unpaid assessment, Virginia law also allows an appeal at any point while the tax remains collectible, as long as you can show clear factual evidence that you weren’t subject to the tax for that year.¹⁹

1
Virginia Department of Taxation. Tax Rates for County, City, Town, and Districts TY 2025
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3100 – Article 1 Commissioners of the Revenue
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3503 – General Classification of Tangible Personal Property
4
Fairfax County. Vehicle Assessment Methods
5
Henrico County. Important Tax Dates
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3524 – Tangible Personal Property Tax Relief
7
Loudoun County, VA. Virginia Personal Property Tax Relief
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3523 – Definitions
9
Henrico County. Personal Property Tax Relief
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3511 – Article 4 Situs for Taxation
11
Frederick County, Virginia. Personal Property Proration
12
City of Falls Church, VA. Vehicle Registration
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 4001 – Residence for Tax Purposes
14
Arlington County Virginia Government. Tax Exemption for Non-Resident Military Servicemembers and Legal Spouses
15
City of Suffolk. Disabled Veteran Personal Property Tax Relief
16
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3916 – Counties, Cities, and Towns May Provide Dates
17
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Delinquent Property Taxes and Vehicle Registration
18
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3919 – Collection of Taxes or Other Charges Not Paid When Due
19
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-3980 – Application to Commissioner of the Revenue
20
Virginia Department of Taxation. Administrative Appeals