Does Virginia Tax Social Security? What Retirees Pay in 2026

Does Virginia tax Social Security? No. Not a dollar of it, at any income level, ever.

If part of your benefit gets taxed on your federal return, Virginia lets you subtract that same amount back out on your state return, and the same treatment covers Tier 1 Railroad Retirement.

That’s the whole answer, and it’s a good one.

But here’s the part that trips Virginia retirees up:

Nearly everything else in your retirement is taxable in Virginia, and the deduction meant to soften that lands differently depending on what year you were born.

Here’s what Virginia retirees pay in 2026, and what they can subtract.

Note: This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Tax rules and dollar amounts are subject to change, so confirm the current details with a professional.

Does Virginia Tax Social Security?

Virginia doesn’t tax Social Security benefits, and the state says so in one flat sentence with no conditions attached.

No income test. No age test.

The mechanics are simple: If the federal government taxed part of your benefit, you subtract that taxed portion on your Virginia return and it comes back off.

A retiree in Roanoke collecting $30,000 a year in Social Security owes Virginia nothing on that money, and neither does a retiree in McLean collecting the maximum benefit.

Tier 1 Railroad Retirement gets the same treatment, which matters in a state with as much rail history as this one.

What Virginia Does Tax

Virginia takes a plain approach to everything else: If the federal government taxes it, Virginia usually taxes it too.

That’s the whole rule.

Pensions are taxable in Virginia, and so are withdrawals from a 401(k), a 403(b), a traditional individual retirement account (IRA), and Tier 2 Railroad Retirement.

Roth withdrawals usually aren’t. You already paid the tax on that money going in.

Virginia’s top income tax rate is 5.75%, and it kicks in at a low enough income that most Virginia retirees with a pension land in it.

The Age Deduction

Virginia hands retirees 65 and older a subtraction worth up to $12,000, and whether you get all of it depends on a birthday from 1939.

Born on or before January 1, 1939, you subtract the full $12,000, full stop.

Born after that, the deduction is income-based.

It shrinks by a dollar for every dollar your income runs past $50,000 if you’re single, or $75,000 if you’re married, which means a Virginia retiree with a healthy pension can watch the whole thing disappear.

Here’s the piece almost nobody knows: Your taxable Social Security doesn’t count toward that income figure, so the number Virginia measures you against is smaller than the one on your federal return.

4 Subtractions Virginia Retirees Miss

Virginia doesn’t apply any of these for you, and every one of them has to be claimed on the return.

1. Military Benefits

Virginia lets a veteran 55 or older subtract up to $40,000 of military retirement income from state taxable income.

Forty thousand dollars.

It covers military retirement pay, qualified military benefits, and Survivor Benefit Plan payments to a veteran’s surviving spouse, and in a state with as many retired service members as Virginia, it’s the biggest number on this page.

2. Virginia’s Age Deduction Calculator

Virginia publishes a calculator that works out your age deduction exactly, and almost no Virginia retiree has ever opened it.

It’s free, and it takes two minutes.

Guessing at that number is how a retiree in Richmond ends up claiming $4,000 when the state would have allowed $9,000.

3. Local Property Tax Relief

Many Virginia cities and counties break the real estate tax or the personal property tax for older residents who qualify.

Nobody mails it to you.

You call the Commissioner of the Revenue or the Director of Finance in your own locality and ask, and the answer in Chesterfield is going to be different from the answer in Fairfax.

4. Watch the Conversion

A Roth conversion is income in Virginia, and it counts against the age deduction phase-out.

Convert too much in one year, and a Virginian can wipe out the entire $12,000 subtraction while trying to do the responsible thing.

Spread it out, or at least know what it costs before December.

How Virginia Compares

Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for retirees, and the pieces don’t all point the same direction.

Social Security is untouched, which puts Virginia in the same company as most states.

Pensions and 401(k) withdrawals are fully taxable, which puts Virginia behind neighbors that leave retirement income alone entirely, and the age deduction is what closes some of that gap for people who claim it.

The math also depends on what you already know about your benefit itself, since the timing of the claim moves the whole number.

The Bill Nobody Warns You About

Virginia collects the income tax at the state level, and then your locality collects the rest.

That’s the real cost of retiring here.

The state doesn’t touch your Social Security, but the county sends a real estate tax bill every year, and Virginia is one of the states that also taxes the car sitting in your driveway.

The personal property tax on a vehicle catches new arrivals flat every time.

A Virginia retiree who moved down from a state that never billed them for a parked car opens that envelope in the fall and reads it twice.

The rate is set by the locality, so the number in Arlington isn’t the number in Wise County, and neither one is the state’s doing.

Do You Even Have to File?

A Virginia retiree living on Social Security alone often owes the state nothing, and sometimes owes no return either.

Sometimes isn’t always.

Virginia sets a filing threshold based on your Virginia adjusted gross income, and once a pension or an IRA withdrawal pushes you past it, the return is due even if the tax works out to zero.

File it anyway if you’re close.

A retiree who had Virginia tax withheld from a pension check all year and skips the return has simply handed the state money it never asked for, and the refund only comes to the people who file for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions Virginia retirees ask most about what the state takes.

Does Virginia tax pensions?

Yes. Pension income is taxable in Virginia, along with 401(k), 403(b), and traditional IRA withdrawals. The age deduction can offset part of it.

Does Virginia tax military retirement?

Partly. A veteran 55 or older can subtract up to $40,000 of military benefits from Virginia taxable income, and anything above that is taxed.

What is the Virginia age deduction?

A subtraction of up to $12,000 for Virginians 65 and older. It’s income-based for anyone born after January 1, 1939, and it shrinks past $50,000 of income for a single filer or $75,000 for a married couple.

What is Virginia’s income tax rate?

Virginia’s rates run from 2% to a top rate of 5.75%, and the top rate starts at a low enough income that most retirees with a pension reach it.