Craig D. Bell *
This article reviews significant recent developments in the law affecting Virginia taxation. Each section covers legislative changes, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation and the Attorney General of Virginia over the past year. Part One of this article discusses legal developments regarding taxes imposed and administered by the Commonwealth. Section II addresses changes made to Virginia corporate and individual tax law, Section III covers legal changes pertaining to retail sales and use taxes, and Section IV covers changes to state tax administration. Part Two of this article documents legal developments of local government taxes. Sections V and VI address changes to the law regarding Virginia real and personal property taxes. Section VII discusses judicial and legislative changes regarding Virginia?s business professional occupation license tax. Section VIII addresses several miscellaneous local taxes and tax administration applicable to local government taxing authorities.
* Partner, McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia; LL.M. in Taxation, 1986, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary; J.D., 1983, State University of New York at Buffalo; M.B.A., 1980, Syracuse University; B.S., 1979, Syracuse University. Mr. Bell practices primarily in the areas of state and local taxation, and civil and criminal tax litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Barrister of the J. Edgar Murdock Inn of Court (U.S. Tax Court), an adjunct professor of tax law at the College of William & Mary School of Law, and a past chair of both the Tax and Military Law Sections of the Virginia State Bar and the Tax Section of the Virginia Bar Association. Mr. Bell is an Emeritus Director of The Community Tax Law Project, a non-profit pro bono provider of tax law services for the working poor, and is its recipient of the Lifetime Pro Bono Achievement Award for his pro bono work in representing hundreds of Virginians before the IRS and in U.S. Tax Court and federal district court, as well as developing and training many lawyers in the area of federal tax law to expand pro bono tax representation for low-income taxpayers.