Virginia Code 58.1-3228.2: Classification of real property owned by certain surviving spouses for tax purposes
A. For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, any real property owned by a surviving spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in the line of duty with a line of duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense, where such death was not the result of criminal conduct, and where such spouse occupies the real property as his principal place of residence and does not remarry may be declared and classified as a separate class of property and shall constitute a separate classification for local taxation of real property.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 58.1-3228.2
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
B. The governing body of such locality may by ordinance levy a tax on the property described in subsection A at a different rate than the tax imposed upon other real property, provided that the rate of tax on the property described in subsection A shall not be zero and shall not exceed the rate of tax on other real property.
C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit a locality to alter in any way its valuation of real property covered by this section.
D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the surviving spouse from moving to a different principal place of residence and without any requirement that the surviving spouse reside in the Commonwealth at the time of death of the member of the Armed Forces of the United States.
2022, c. 77.