What's included in Laws, Rules, and Decisions

The following Policy document types are available in Laws, Rules & Decisions:

  • Rulings of the Tax Commissioner - rulings issued in response to specific inquiries or appeals from taxpayers. These rulings are usually made in response to appeals filed under the provisions of Virginia Code §58.1-1821. 

  • Tax Bulletins - notices issued by the department to explain law changes, clarify existing law or policy, or publish information such as current interest rates. The bulletins are posted on the agency’s web page, circulated within the agency and mailed to the local Commissioners of the Revenue, media organizations and tax practitioners.
  • Attorney General Opinions – official opinions on the interpretation and administration of provisions of the Code of Virginia issued by the Attorney General in response to inquiries from state and local government officials.

To research the Tax Code of Virginia (Title 58.1 and other tax-related provisions of the VA Code) and Virginia Tax Administrative Code (Virginia Administrative Code, Title 23, Taxation), please visit the Virginia Law section of Virginia's Legislative Information System.

Availability

We have made every effort to provide current and correct information, however, some public tax documents, especially those from before 1994, may not be included at this time, and will be added at a later date. It is possible that some information found here may be out of date due to law changes, or may not fit your exact situation. For specific advice, you may want to consult a tax advisor. You can also view our disclaimer.

Guidance Documents

Virginia Tax also produces guidance documents, defined as "...any document developed by a state agency or staff that provides information or guidance of general applicability to the staff or public to interpret or implement statutes or the agency's rules or regulations..." Agencies are required to maintain a complete, current list of all guidance documents and make the full text of such documents available to the public. By law, these Guidance Documents are published on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall site.

However, because of the volume, Virginia Tax's rulings, tax bulletins, forms, and publications are published on our website in the Laws, Rules & Decisions section, while other types of guidance documents, such as internal memoranda and agreements with other agencies or states, are published on the Town Hall.

Under Va. Code § 58.1-205, a court is required to sustain a regulation unless unreasonable or plainly inconsistent with applicable provisions of law, while tax bulletins, guidelines and other documents are accorded judicial notice only. Under Virginia case law, when a matter is judicially noted, it is taken as true without the offering of evidence by the party who should have ordinarily done so, but the opponent is not prevented from disputing the matter. Therefore, guidance documents are not given the great weight accorded to regulations that have been promulgated under the Administrative Process Act. The Department’s regulations may be found in the Virginia Administrative Code.

The following types of guidance documents have been published by Virginia Tax:

  • Guidelines (instructions for taxpayers related to specific events or tax-related subjects). Guidelines currently in effect are listed below and available on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. Information on guidelines currently under development may be found on our Guidance Documents page.
  • Manuals (instructions for our staff) are listed below on our Guidance Documents page and available on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall.
  • Forms and related instructions are available on our Forms page.
  • Publications (reports routinely issued by Virginia Tax that include information on economic, demographic and procedural topics) are available on our Facts and Figures page.

Other types of guidance documents are available on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall.