Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator — Virginia (2026)
If you earn income in Virginia without withholding — freelancing, contracting, rentals, dividends — the IRS expects payment four times a year, not once. This calculator turns your expected 2026 net profit into a per-quarter number covering self-employment tax, federal income tax and Virginia state tax. Virginia uses a progressive income tax with 4 brackets running from 2.00% up to 5.75%, applied after a state standard deduction of $8,500.
Virginia Quarterly Tax Calculator
Gross 1099 income minus business expenses.
2026 due dates and safe harbor
Federal estimated payments are due April 15, June 15, September 15 of 2026 and January 15 of 2027. You avoid penalties by paying either 90% of the current year's liability or 100% of last year's (110% if prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000) — the safe-harbor rule.
Virginia runs its own estimated-payment schedule that usually mirrors the federal dates. On $90,000 of net profit the Virginia portion alone is about $1,016 per quarter.
Underpayment penalties
The IRS charges interest-style penalties per quarter you fall short, currently around 7–8% annualized. Paying late in the year does not fix an early-quarter shortfall unless you use the annualized income method on Form 2210.
Irregular income is common in defense work around Virginia Beach: if Q1 is slow and Q4 is huge, the annualized method usually beats four equal payments.
Paying as a Virginia taxpayer
Pay federally through IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS, and Virginia through the state revenue department's online portal — keep confirmation numbers for both.
Virginia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Local and payroll taxes Virginia adds on top
Virginia adds no state-mandated employee payroll deduction beyond FICA, so nothing extra is taken from your gross pay at the state level.
Virginia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Nobody withholds these for you when you are self-employed in Virginia. Local wage taxes, city business licences and gross-receipts style levies are yours to register for and remit alongside your quarterly federal and state estimates.
Working across a state line from Virginia
Virginia holds income-tax reciprocity agreements with District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. If you commute between them, your wages are taxed only by your state of residence — file the exemption certificate with your employer so the wrong state is not withheld from every paycheck.
Remote and hybrid work complicates this further: most states tax income where the work is physically performed, so a Virginia Beach resident spending part of the year at a client site in North Carolina may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your Virginia tax bill
Virginia charges a 5.3% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 0.87% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $12.77 an hour.
Combined rates reach 7% in Historic Triangle localities.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. Virginia recovers revenue through sales and property tax as well, which is why headline income tax rates alone are a poor guide to how far a salary really goes. Virginia exempts Social Security and allows an age deduction up to $12,000 for filers 65+ subject to income limits.
Virginia vs North Carolina on the same salary
On a $90,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $67,716 a year in Virginia against roughly $68,669 in North Carolina — a difference of $953, or $79 a month.
Effective combined rates are 24.8% in Virginia and 23.7% in North Carolina. Set that gap against living costs: index 102 here versus 96 there, with property tax at 0.87% and 0.8% respectively.
Virginia income tax brackets 2026 (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $3,000 | 2.00% |
| $3,000 – $5,000 | 3.00% |
| $5,000 – $17,000 | 5.00% |
| $17,000 and up | 5.75% |