Before you start

An SSN or ITIN
Form W-4 with your employer for federal withholding
Form VA-4 with your employer for Virginia withholding
Records of foreign income and foreign financial accounts

Step-by-step

1
Complete the W-4 and Virginia's VA-4 on day one
Virginia has its own withholding exemption certificate separate from the federal W-4. Because Virginia's top bracket starts so low, under-withholding here catches up with you quickly — treat 5.75% as your marginal rate when you estimate rather than reading down the bracket table.
Via employerWho: YouFirst week of employment
2
Register your vehicle with the city and expect the June bill
Richmond bills a personal property tax on vehicles at USD 3.70 per USD 100 of assessed value, due 5 June. The Personal Property Tax Relief Act fully exempts qualifying vehicles assessed at USD 1,000 or less and gives partial relief on the first USD 20,000. The city needs to know you and the car are here in order to bill you — and not being billed is not the same as not owing.
In personWho: YouWithin 30 days of moving; bill due 5 June
3
Determine your US tax residency
The substantial presence test counts weighted days across three years to decide whether the US taxes your worldwide income or only US-source income. Certain students and scholars are exempt from counting days for a period, which matters at VCU and the University of Richmond. Your visa category does not settle this.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check for an applicable tax treaty
The US has income tax treaties with around 70 countries. Virginia's return starts from federal adjusted gross income, so a federal treaty exclusion generally flows through to the state — unlike California, which disregards treaties entirely. Confirm your own article rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: You
5
File the federal return by 15 April and the Virginia one by 1 May
The tax year is the calendar year, but the two deadlines are not the same. Virginia Tax states that most people must file their Virginia return by 1 May, and that Virginia allows an automatic six-month extension to file — 1 November for most filers, with no application required. Tax owed is still due on the original date. It is one of the more useful small facts about living here, and one almost no national guide mentions.
OnlineWho: YouFederal 15 April; Virginia 1 May
6
File an FBAR if foreign accounts exceed USD 10,000
Aggregate foreign financial account balances above USD 10,000 at any point in the year trigger a FinCEN filing, separate from your tax return. An ordinary current account at home is often enough to cross it.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Form W-2 from each employer, issued by 31 January
Form 1099s for freelance, interest and investment income
Passport and travel history for the substantial presence day count
Foreign account statements for FBAR reporting
Your city vehicle personal property tax bill

Things most newcomers don’t know

Virginia's progressive brackets are a formality — the top rate starts at USD 17,000.

The published schedule runs 2%, 3%, 5% and 5.75%, which reads as a gentle progression until you notice the top band begins at USD 17,000 of taxable income and has not moved in a generation. Anyone working full time is paying 5.75% on the overwhelming majority of their income, so model Virginia as a flat 5.75% state. People comparing offers across state lines routinely read the low bottom rate as meaningful and it is not.

Source: Virginia Tax

No Virginia locality levies an income tax — but they all levy a car tax.

This is the trade the Commonwealth makes. Ohio and Michigan cities tax where you work, Indiana counties tax where you live, Kansas City and St. Louis run earnings taxes, and New York City charges residents. Virginia allows none of that. What it allows instead is a local personal property tax on vehicles — Richmond USD 3.70 per USD 100, due 5 June — which lands as an annual lump sum on an asset you already own. Whether that is better or worse depends entirely on how many cars you keep.

Source: City of Richmond Department of Finance

Groceries are taxed at 1% statewide, which is a real difference from the 6% headline.

Virginia Tax states that food for home consumption and certain essential personal hygiene products are taxed at the reduced rate of 1% throughout Virginia, against a general Central Virginia rate of 6%. Prepared food is the opposite story — Richmond adds a 7.5% meals tax on top of the 6%, so eating out carries 13.5%. The gap between cooking and eating out is unusually wide here, and it is worth noticing when you budget.

Source: Virginia Tax — grocery tax

Virginia's filing deadline is 1 May, not 15 April, with an automatic six-month extension.

Virginia Tax says most people must file by 1 May, and that the Commonwealth allows an automatic six-month extension — 1 November for most filers — with no application required. Payment is still due on the original date. Two weeks of extra breathing room after the federal deadline is a genuinely useful quirk, and no national relocation guide mentions it because it applies to one state.

Source: Virginia Tax — when to file

Common mistakes to avoid

Reading Virginia's 2% bottom bracket as meaningful — the top rate starts at USD 17,000.
Failing to register a vehicle with the city and assuming no bill means no liability.
Being surprised by 13.5% on a restaurant bill.
Assuming Virginia's filing deadline and extension rules mirror the federal ones.
Comparing a Richmond salary to a no-income-tax state without pricing the annual car tax.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.