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Filing Requirements

The following information includes filing requirements for Virginia's major business taxes. For an overview of all state taxes administered by the Department of Taxation, please refer to Virginia Tax Facts(PDF 229Kb).

Corporation Income Tax

• As a general rule, every corporation that is: organized under the laws of Virginia; or that has registered with the State Corporation Commission for the privilege of doing business in Virginia; or that has received income from Virginia sources must file a Virginia corporation income tax return. For exceptions to the filing requirement, see the instructions for Form 500(PDF 354 Kb).

• Corporations other than S corporations must file Form 500(PDF 184Kb) on or before the 15^th day of the fourth month following the close of the corporation's taxable year, as shown in the following table. S corporations must file an information return on Form 502(PDF 33Kb) by the due date indicated below. For further information on S corporation filing requirements, see Pass-Through Entities

  For Taxable Year Ending:	File On or Before:
  January 31	May 15
  February 28	June 15
  March 31	July 15
  April 30	August 15
  May 31	September 15
  June 30	October 15
  July 31	November 15
  August 31	December 15
  September 30	January 15
  October 31	February 15
  November 30	March 15
  December 31	April 15

• For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005, an automatic six-month filing extension is allowed for corporations filing on Form 500 or Form 502. No paper application or online application for extension is required. The extension provisions do not apply to payment of any tax that may be due with Form 500. To avoid penalties, Form 500 filers must pay at least 90% of their final tax liability by the original due for filing the return. The payment must be submitted on Form 500CP(PDF 290Kb) by the due date indicated in the table above.

• Every corporation that can reasonably expect to incur a Virginia income tax liability of $1,000 or more must make estimated tax payments on Form 500-ES. The payments are due on the 15^th day of the fourth, sixth, ninth and twelfth months of the corporation's taxable year.

Employer Income Tax Withholding

• As a general rule, any employer who pays employees for services performed in Virginia must withhold Virginia income tax. For detailed information on withholding tax, see the Employer Income Tax Withholding Instructions (PDF 667Kb).

• Use the Employer Withholding Tax Calculator to compute the amount of tax to be withheld from each of your employee's wages.

• Quarterly Filers: If your average tax liability is less than $100 per month, you will be assigned a quarterly filing status. Quarterly returns and payments are due on the last day of the month following the close of each quarter, as shown below. You may file your returns on Form VA-5(PDF 29Kb), or use iFile for Businesses, our free online filing service.

  For the quarter ending...	File your return and payment by...
  March 31	April 30
  June 30	July 31
  September 30	October 31
  December 31	January 31

• Monthly Filers: If your average tax liability is more than $100, but less than $1,000 per month, you will be assigned a monthly filing status. Monthly returns and payments are due on the dates shown in the table below. You may file your returns on Form VA-5(PDF 29Kb), or use iFile for Businesses, our free online filing service.

  For the month of...	File your return and payment by...
  January	February 25
  February	March 25
  March	April 25
  April	May 25
  May	June 25
  June	July 25
  July	August 25
  August	September 25
  September	October 25
  October	November 25
  November	December 25
  December	January 25

• Semi-Weekly Filers: If your average tax liability is more than $1,000 per month, you will be assigned a semi-weekly filing status. If the Virginia tax withheld is $500 or more as of any federal cutoff date, payment is due within three banking days. Federal cutoff dates are generally on Tuesday and Friday of each week, as shown in the table below. You may submit your payments on Form VA-15(PDF 20Kb), or or use iFile for Businesses, our free online filing service.

  If your liability exceeds $500 for a payday that falls on ...	Make your semi-weekly payment no later than the following ...
  Wednesday, Thursday or Friday	Wednesday
  Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday	Friday

• Semi-weekly filers must also file quarterly reconciliations on Form VA-16(PDF 29Kb), by the last day of the month following the close of each calendar quarter.

• All employers must file an annual reconciliation on Form VA-6(PDF 31Kb), accompanied by W-2 and/or 1099 information, by February 28 each year.

Litter Tax

Every manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or retailer of the following products is required to file Form 200(PDF 187Kb) by May 1 each year:

• Food for human or pet consumption
• Groceries
• Cigarettes and Tobacco
• Soft Drinks and Carbonated waters
• Beer and Other Malt Beverages
• Wine
• Newspaper or Magazines
• Paper Products and Household Paper
• Glass Containers
• Metal Containers
• Plastic or Fiber Containers made of Synthetic Material
• Cleaning Agents and Toiletries
• Nondrug Drugstore Sundries
• Distilled Spirits
• Motor Vehicle Parts

Pass-Through Entities (S Corporations, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies)

• For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2004, every pass-through entity that does business in Virginia or receives income from Virginia sources must file an income tax return on Form 502(PDF 33Kb) .

• The term "pass-through entity" includes S corporations, general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships (LLPs), limited liability companies (LLCs), electing large partnerships and business trusts. A pass-through entity is any entity other than an individual estate or trust that is recognized as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes and the owners of which report their distributive or pro rata shares of the entity's income, gains, losses, deductions and credits on their own returns. For purposes of the filing requirement, the definition of "pass-through entity" does not include single-member limited liabilities or investment pass-through entities. For further information, see Tax Bulletin 05-6.

• Form 502 must be filed by the 15^th day of the fourth month following the close of the entity's taxable year. For example, calendar year returns must be filed on or before April 15 each year.

• For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005, an automatic six-month filing extension is allowed for pass-through entities filing on Form 502. No paper application or online application for extension is required. To avoid late filing penalties, however, Form 502 must be filed no later than six months from the original due date of the return. For example, a calendar year Form 502 is due on April 15; therefore, the return must be filed no later than October 15 for the six-month extension provision to apply. Note: The automatic extension of time to file does not extend the payment due date for withholding tax. The withholding tax payment is due on the due date of the pass-through entity's return regardless of whether the extension to file the income return (Form 502) is used. Use Form 502W to make the withholding tax payment by the due date.

• The penalty for late filing of Form 502 is $200 per month, for a maximum of six months from the original due date. Accordingly, a Form 502 that is filed more than six months from the original due date will be subject to the maximum late filing penalty of $1,200.

• If any of the owners (shareholders, partners, members) of a pass-through entity are nonresidents whose only source of income from Virginia is the pass-through entity, the entity may be eligible to file a unified Virginia income tax return on behalf of the nonresident owners, using Form 765(PDF 74KB). This filing does not replace the filing of Form 502 for entity itself. For complete information on unified filing, refer to the instructions for Form 765(PDF 56Kb).

Retail Sales and Use Tax

• In general, a seller is subject to sales tax imposed on gross receipts from retail sales. Due dates for monthly and quarterly returns are shown below. Dealers file on Form ST-6(PDF 1.1Mb) (direct pay permit), Form ST-8(PDF 1.6Mb) (out-of-state dealers), or Form ST-9(PDF 958Kb) (in-state dealers).

  For the month of...	File your return and payment by...
  January	February 20
  February	March 20
  March (also quarterly)	April 20
  April	May 20
  May	June 20
  June (also quarterly)	July 20
  July	August 20
  August	September 20
  September (also quarterly)	October 20
  October	November 20
  November	December 20
  December (also quarterly)	January 20

• In cases where a business purchases items for its own use and is not charged sales tax, a Consumer's Use Tax return must be filed on Form ST-7(PDF 132Kb), by the 20^th day of the month following the month in which the taxable purchase was made.