Virginia — Tax Residency Rule

Summary

Domiciliary resident

Domiciled in Virginia at any time in the year

Actual resident

Lives in, or keeps a place of abode in, Virginia > 183 days

Window

Taxable year; days need not be consecutive

Effect

Taxed as a resident on all income

Not residents

Members of Congress and of the armed forces domiciled in another state

Basis

Code of Virginia § 58.1-302

You are a Virginia resident for income tax if you are domiciled in Virginia at any time in the year, or if — domiciled elsewhere — you live in Virginia, or maintain a place of abode there, for more than 183 days of the taxable year (an "actual resident"). The days do not have to be consecutive. Stay at 183 days or fewer and you avoid actual residency, but a Virginia domicile makes you a resident regardless.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you are:

• A remote worker, contractor or student from another state who lives in Virginia for much of the year.
• Someone who owns or rents a second home in Virginia while calling another state home.
• A Virginian working abroad or serving in the military who assumes being away ends Virginia residency.
• A person moving into or out of Virginia mid-year.

Virginia applies the same residency rules to US citizens and to resident or nonresident aliens — it has no separate alien status.

The rule — and why it exists

Code of Virginia § 58.1-302 defines a resident as every person domiciled in Virginia at any time during the taxable year, and every other person who, for an aggregate of more than 183 days of the taxable year, maintained his place of abode within Virginia.

• Domiciliary resident. Virginia is your permanent place of residence, the place you intend to return to even if you live elsewhere. The statute lists what may be weighed: your expressed intent and conduct, employment and business, income sources, where you file federally, marital status, where your spouse, children and parents live, property you own or lease, vehicle registration and voter registration.
• Actual resident. You are domiciled elsewhere but live in Virginia, or keep a place of abode there, for more than 183 days of the year. Virginia Tax gives the example of an out-of-state student who lives in Virginia during the school year: they are an actual resident of Virginia and a domiciliary resident of their home state at the same time.

Why it exists: Virginia wants to tax people whose lives are actually in the state, whatever their paperwork says, while keeping its claim on Virginians who leave temporarily. The domicile limb reaches the second group; the 183-day limb reaches the first.

Counting the days

1. 1Add up the days you live in Virginia, or keep a place of abode there, during the taxable year — for individuals, normally 1 January to 31 December.
2. 2Separate stays count together; the days do not have to be consecutive.
3. 3More than 183 days (184 or more) makes a non-domiciliary an actual resident for that year.
4. 4The count starts again with each new taxable year, so a stay split across a year-end is counted separately in each year.

Virginia does not publish a rule on partial days. If you are close to the line, keep records that show where you slept and where you were during each day.

What Bounded counts. The counter shows the higher of two counts: your days in Virginia, and — once you confirm a Virginia home — every day of the year you kept it, from 1 January or from the counter's start date if your home began later. It warns once the higher count passes 183. Counting your days in Virginia follows Virginia Tax's wording and is the cautious reading; the statute counts the days you keep a home. The home count has no end date, so if you gave the home up during the year it keeps going and runs high.

Examples

Example 1 — clearly an actual resident

You are domiciled in Florida but rent an apartment in Richmond and live there 210 days this year. You exceed 183 days, so you are a Virginia actual resident and Virginia taxes all of your income for the year.

Example 2 — 200 days in short-term lodging

You keep your Florida home but spend 200 days this year working in Arlington, moving between hotels and month-to-month rentals. Virginia Tax treats people who live in Virginia for more than 183 days as actual residents, so staying in hotels rather than under a long lease is not a reliable way out. Plan on Virginia treating you as an actual resident unless your facts clearly show otherwise.

Example 3 — resident by domicile, not days

Virginia is your permanent home, but a posting abroad means you spend only 40 days in the state this year. You have not abandoned Virginia domicile, so you remain a domiciliary resident taxed on your entire income — and any foreign income tax you pay is not credited, except on foreign-source pension income.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Members of Congress. A member of the US Congress domiciled in another state is not a Virginia resident even if they live in Virginia. Spouses and staff get no such exception.
• Military. Members of the armed forces legally domiciled in another state are not actual residents, however long they are stationed in Virginia (23VAC10-110-30). A servicemember who entered the military from Virginia stays a domiciliary resident unless they take steps to abandon Virginia domicile. Active-duty members and their spouses may use the servicemember's domicile, the spouse's domicile or the permanent duty station as their residence.
• Part-year residents. Moving in or out with intent to change domicile makes you a part-year resident (Form 760PY). If you move away and return within six months, Virginia Tax treats you as not having changed domicile. A part-year resident who lived in Virginia 183 days or less may instead file as a nonresident on Form 763.
• Reciprocity. Virginia has reciprocity agreements with Kentucky, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania; residents of those jurisdictions who meet the conditions may not need to file a Virginia return.
• Credits. Income taxed by another state is relieved by a credit, not a subtraction. No credit is given for local, federal or (except on foreign-source pensions) foreign income taxes.

Common misconceptions

• "Under 183 days means I'm safe." False if Virginia is your domicile at any time in the year.
• "Without a lease or deed in Virginia I can't be an actual resident." Virginia Tax looks at whether you lived in Virginia for more than 183 days, not just at who holds the lease.
• "Working abroad ends my Virginia residency." Not unless you establish a domicile elsewhere; years abroad do not cancel a Virginia domicile on their own.
• "The 183 days must be one continuous stay." No — separate stays in the same year are added together.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Virginia Tax — Residency Status
• Code of Virginia — § 58.1-302, Definitions (resident, domicile)