During the 2011 Session, the Virginia General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 1124, which transfers the administration of the insurance premiums tax from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) to the Department of Taxation (the Department). This transfer includes the processing of tax returns, the handling of payments and billing, customer service functions, collections, and auditing duties. The SCC will continue to be responsible for the licensing of insurance companies and the administration of the maintenance fund.

Certain provisions of this legislation mandate that declarations of estimated tax be made in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the Department of Taxation. Accordingly, these guidelines address the information to be included in a declaration of estimated tax; declarations of estimated tax made by insurance companies and nonstock corporations with a taxable year of less than 12 months; the procedure for making amendments to a declaration of estimated tax; and the exception to penalties for failure to pay estimated taxes for companies with taxable years of less than 12 months. This website contains documents and links to websites that are relevant to the drafting of these guidelines.

Senate Bill 1124 is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013. Accordingly, insurance companies must make quarterly estimated tax payments to the Department beginning in 2013. Companies should have filed their annual tax reports for Taxable Year 2012 with the SCC on March 1, 2013, and must file all subsequent tax reports will be filed with the Department. Additional information regarding the implementation process, including details about filing tax reports with the Department, are available on the Insurance Premiums License Tax page.

During the 2013 session, the Virginia General Assembly enacted House Bill 2155 and Senate Bill 1216, which made several technical changes related to the administration of the Insurance Premiums License Tax. This legislation included several changes to the interest rate applied to underpayments of tax by insurance companies, the Insurance Premiums License Tax payment and billing deadlines, and the provisions for disclosure of information related to the Insurance Premiums License Tax. Accordingly, the Department has published updated Insurance Premiums License Tax Guidelines to ensure consistency with the updated law.

Final Guidelines

Legislative Documents

Guideline Development Documents