February 4, 2026
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax
Dear *****:
This will respond to your letter in which you seek a refund of the overpayment of individual income tax paid by ***** and ***** (the “Taxpayers”) for the taxable years ended December 31, 2018, and 2019.
FACTS
The Taxpayers filed their joint Virginia individual income tax return for the 2018 taxable year in December 2023 and subsequently filed amended returns in April 2024 and April 2025. They filed their joint Virginia individual income tax return for the 2019 taxable year in April 2024 and subsequently filed an amended return in April 2025. Each return reported an overpayment of income tax. The amended returns made no substantive change to the Taxpayers’ Virginia tax liability. Instead, they just changed whether the Taxpayers were requesting a refund of the overpayment or credit towards the next taxable year’s liability. The Department denied the requested overpayment credits and refunds because the returns were filed outside of the statute of limitations. The Taxpayers submitted an application for correction, requesting that the Department issue the refunds because the amended returns were timely filed.
DETERMINATION
Original Returns
Virginia Code § 58.1-499 A provides that, in the case of any overpayment of any tax, whether by reason of excessive withholding, overestimating and overpaying estimated tax, or error on the part of the taxpayer, the Department shall order a refund of the overpayment. Virginia Code § 58.1-499 D specifies, however, in pertinent part that:
No refund under this section shall . . . be made . . . whether on discovery by the Department or on written application of the taxpayer, if such discovery is not made or such written application is not received within three years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return . . . [Emphasis added.]
Virginia Code § 58.1-341 A requires that taxpayers file individual income tax returns by May 1 of the year following the tax year for which the return is filed. The due dates for the Taxpayers’ 2018 and 2019 Virginia individual income tax returns were May 1, 2019, and May 1, 2020, respectively. As such, the returns were required to be filed by May 2, 2022 (May 1 was a Sunday), and May 1, 2023, respectively, in order to receive refunds for the 2018 and 2019 taxable years. The original 2018 and 2019 Virginia returns were filed December 11, 2023, and April 16, 2024, well outside of the three-year limitations period. The Taxpayers should be aware that the 2019 Virginia return filed on April 16, 2024, was marked amended, but the Department is treating that return as an original return because the Department has no record of an earlier 2019 Virginia return having been filed.
Amended Returns
Virginia Code § 58.1-1823 provides, in pertinent part, that an amended return claiming a refund must be filed within the later of (i) three years from the last day prescribed by law for the timely filing of the return; (ii) one year from the final determination of any change or correction in the liability of the taxpayer for any federal tax upon which the state tax is based, provided that the refund does not exceed the amount of the decrease in Virginia tax attributable to such federal change or correction.
The Taxpayers contend that they filed their amended Virginia 2018 and 2019 returns late because the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was delayed in processing their 2018 federal returns due to the backlogs attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, Taxpayers contended that these processing issues were not resolved by the IRS until sometime in 2024. The Taxpayers claim that the IRS sent a notice of final determination of their 2018 federal return on July 30, 2024, and that their amended Virginia returns for the 2018 and 2019 taxable years were timely filed within one year of that notice.
Even if the Department were to consider issuing a refund attributable to an amended return in cases where the original return was not filed within the three-year statute of limitations, refunds under this exception are limited to the decrease in Virginia income tax directly resulting from the federal change. In this case, the Taxpayers’ 2018 and 2019 original Virginia returns reported the same federal adjusted gross income as their 2018 and 2019 amended Virginia returns. As such, the one-year exception to the general three-year limitations period provided by Virginia Code § 58.1-1823 (ii) is not applicable. The Taxpayers cannot circumvent the limitations period by claiming the IRS made a change to the federal return where the only change to the Virginia return was whether to apply an overpayment as a refund or a credit towards the following year.
CONCLUSION
The provisions of Virginia Code § 58.1-499 D are clear and do not provide the Department with any discretion in enforcing the three-year limitations period to apply for a refund. In addition, for the reasons stated above, the Taxpayers do not qualify for a refund pursuant to the exception to the general three-year limitations period described under Virginia Code § 58.1-1823 (ii). Accordingly, the Taxpayers’ request for relief cannot be granted.
The Code of Virginia sections cited are available online at law.lis.virginia.gov. The public documents cited are available at tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules, & Decisions section of the Department’s website. If you have any questions regarding this determination, you may contact ***** in the Office of Tax Policy and Legal Affairs, Tax Adjudication and Resolution Division, at ***** or *****@tax.virginia.gov.
Sincerely,
Kristin L. Collins
Tax Commissioner
Commonwealth of Virginia
AR/5190.T