Craig D. Bell *
This article reviews significant recent developments in the laws affecting Virginia state and local taxation. Each section covers legislative activity, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation (the “Tax Department”) and the Virginia Attorney General over the past year. Part I of this article addresses state taxes. Part II of this article covers local taxes, including real and tangible personal property, natural gas consumption tax, recordation tax, and administrative local tax procedures. The overall purpose of this article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation that will most likely impact them. However, this article does not discuss many of the numerous technical legislative changes to Title 58.1 of the Virginia Code covering taxation.
* 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 Virginia Law Foundation, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a Master in the J. Edgar Murdock Inn of Court (U.S. Tax Court), an adjunct professor of tax law at the College of William and Mary School of Law, and a past chair of both the Tax and Military Law Sections of the Virginia State Bar, as well as the Tax Section of the Virginia Bar Association. Mr. Bell is an emeritus director of The Community Tax Law Project, and is its recipient of the Lifetime Pro Bono Achievement Award.