• Sales Tax on Events

• Sales Tax on Recreation Charges

• Sales Tax on Gym Memberships

• Sales Tax on Counseling Services

• Sales Tax on Home Repairs

• Sales Tax on Vehicle Repairs

• Sales Tax on Dry Cleaning & Laundry

• Sales Tax on Pet Grooming & Boarding

• Sales Tax on Dog Walking

• Sales Tax on Digital Personal Property (Digital Goods)

• Sales Tax on Digital Services (websites, graphic design, etc.)

• Sales Tax on Delivery Services

• Sales Tax on Shipping & Packing

• Retail Delivery Tax (UberEats, Doordash, Amazon Prime, Etc.)

• Rideshare Tax (Uber, Lyft, Etc.)

• Rideshare Surcharge in addition to the Rideshare Tax (Uber Lyft, Etc.)

• Corporate Tax on Businesses Receiving Large State Subsidies

• New Car Tax

• Storage Facility Tax

• Personal Property Tax on Electric Leaf Blowers and Landscaping Equipment

• Increased Hotel Tax in Arlington

• Revenue Split/Tax on Casino Gaming Adjusted Gross Receipts

• Casino Operator Licenseing Fee Increase

• Alcoholic Beverage Tax

• Highway Use Tax

• Sales Tax Dedicated to Funding Metro

• Tax on Purchase of Firearms

• Tax on Purchase of Ammunition

• Proposal from the Virginia General Assembly to local jurisdictions/counties to impose additional personal property taxes

Purpose:‍ ‍New tax brackets that increase state income tax to 10% on high earning individuals and families.

In Other Words: This would take the current, effectively flat state income tax rate of 5.75% and increase it to 10% on any family making more than $1 million per year.

Why It’s Bad:‍ ‍On its own it would bring Virginia alongside New York and New Jersey as the states with the third highest income tax rates. California and Hawaii are first and second. When combined with proposed bill HB378 (Investment Income Tax) that would levy a 3.8% tax on high earning families, Virginia would instantly unseat California to become the state with the highest income tax rate (13.8%). When combined with Federal income tax, high earning families would keep less than 50% of their income. To cope, high earning families would be forced to:

• Move their families to states with little to no state income tax (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, or Washington);

• Move their businesses to states with little to no state income tax (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, or Washington);

• Make their businesses and their employees seasonal;

• Reduce their staff and benefits to compensate;

Current Status:‍ ‍Postponed for the 2027 session.

Purpose:‍ ‍Imposes a 3.8% tax on net investment income (unrealized capital gains, dividends, passive income, interest, royalties, rental income, business sales, 401Ks, etc.) for taxpayers with federal modified adjusted gross income over $500,000, starting in 2027.

In Other Words:‍ ‍Democrats want to tax your unrealized capital gains (investments) both in your real estate holdings and in your investments in the stock market, even if you haven’t sold anything.

Why It’s Bad:‍ ‍It would set a precedent that unrealized capital gains could be taxed and effectively destroy investment portfolios of Virginia families, including retirement investment accounts (401Ks). When combined with proposed bills HB188 and HB979 (New High-Income Tax Bracket) that would levy a 10% tax on high earning families, Virginia would instantly unseat California to become the state with the highest income tax rate (13.8%). When combined with Federal income tax, high earning families would keep less than 50% of their income. To cope, families would be forced to:

• Move their families to states with little to no state income tax (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, or Washington);

• Move their businesses to states with little to no state income tax (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, or Washington);

• Stop investing.

Current Status:‍ ‍Paused in 2026 House Finance Committee.

Purpose: It would allow state and local law enforcement to install and operate speed cameras in new areas.

In Other Words:‍ ‍State and local law enforcement could install speed cameras in new areas to generate additional revenue.

Why It’s Bad: Speed cameras penalize drivers without accounting for context, such as briefly exceeding the limit to avoid a hazard. They often prioritize revenue generation over genuine safety improvements. These systems lack the discretion a human officer could exercise in nuanced situations. Additionally, they can erode public trust in traffic enforcement due to perceived unfairness and lack of transparency.

Current Status:‍ Paused in committee.

Purpose:‍ ‍The bill is meant to discourage companies with more than 500 employees from paying wages so low that employees rely on government assistance, shifting those costs back to employers. It would impose a tax equal to 100% of certain public benefits received by their employees such as federal assistance programs.

In Other Words:‍ ‍More taxes on Virginia businesses.

Why It’s Bad: Additional taxes on companies for the public benefits their employees receive could increase operating costs and discourage businesses from expanding or locating in Virginia. The policy also unfairly blames employers for broader economic issues like cost of living and benefit eligibility rules. If passed it could lead to fewer jobs or reduced hours as companies try to offset the new tax burden.

Current Status:‍ ‍Introduced January 8, 2026 in the Virginia House of Delegates and assigned to a House Finance subcommittee to be continued in the next session.

Purpose: The bill aims to broaden the tax base by taxing services and digital goods, which would increase state revenue. It would apply the state sales tax to various services, such as:

• repair services (vehicle or property repairs)

• dry cleaning and laundry

• landscaping, cleaning, and home maintenance

• travel planning and event planning

• pet care and similar services.

• It would also tax digital services and products, including things like:

  • software applications

  • website hosting or design

  • cloud data storage

  • digital subscriptions and digital media.

In Other Words:‍ ‍More taxes.

Why It’s Bad: It expands the sales tax to services that would significantly increase costs for consumers who rely on everyday services like repairs, cleaning, and digital tools. This would especially hurt small businesses and independent service providers by making their services more expensive and less competitive. Additionally, instead of focusing on cutting government costs it places additional tax burdens on Virginians during a time of rising living costs when Democrats promised to make life “more affordable.”

Current Status:‍ ‍Introduced in the 2026 session and is slated to continue to the next session in the House Finance Committee.

Purpose: The bill would let Virginia localities ask voters through a local referendum to approve an extra 1% sales tax dedicated specifically to school construction projects.

In Other Words: The goal is to give local governments an additional way to fund school construction and improvements without relying solely on property taxes or state funding.

Why It’s Bad: It increases the sales tax, which disproportionately affects low-income residents who spend a larger share of their income on taxable goods. It also adds another tax burden on consumers instead of encouraging governments to manage existing education funds more efficiently. Furthermore, relying on local sales taxes could create larger disparities in school funding between wealthier and poorer communities.

Current Status:‍ ‍Introduced in the 2026 session and is moving forward through committee.

Purpose:‍ ‍Establishes collective bargaining for public employees.

In Other Words: It would unionize public employees in all positions at the state and local levels.

Why It’s Bad: It would be a decision made by an unelected bureaucrat in Richmond that would:

• Lead to excessive waste and bloat;

• Bankrupt local governments;

• Bankrupt local school districts;

• Increase public school class sizes;

• Shift funding away from police departments, fire departments, and EMTs;

• Pull maintenance funding away from critical infrastructure including roads, bridges and water utilities;

• Destroy the democratization of state and local governments;

• Drive up property taxes on working families;

• Become the single largest tax increase in Virginia history;

• NOT deliver better services to the taxpayer.

Current Status:‍ ‍Moving forward through their respective chambers and committees. Facing opposition from local governments.

Purpose:‍ ‍It allowed undocumented (illegal) immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition at Virginia public colleges. To qualify, students generally must: graduate from a Virginia high school and attend it for at least two years, show that they or their parents filed Virginia state income taxes for at least two years. If students meet those requirements they can receive in-state tuition “regardless of citizenship or immigration status.”

In Other Words:‍ ‍Taxpayer funded in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Why It’s Bad: It allows undocumented (illegal) immigrants to receive in-state tuition benefits that U.S. citizens from other states cannot receive. It is not only unfair to taxpayers and students who follow legal immigration processes but also prioritizes non-citizens for public education subsidies that should go to citizens and lawful residents.

Current Status:‍ ‍Passed by Democrats and signed into law by Democrat Governor Ralph Northam in 2020. While still on the books as state law, the application of the provisions is being challenged in federal court, so the final outcome could change depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling.