Title 58.1, Taxation

The commissioner of the revenue shall enter in the books and assess the fair market value of all lands in his county or city appearing by the abstracts to have been granted.

The lands and standing timber appearing on the lists or statements referenced in §§ 58.1-3303 through 58.1-3308 shall be transferred accordingly on the land book and charged to the person to whom the transfer is made or the grant has issued. When standing timber is so transferred…

Each commissioner of the revenue shall retain in his office the original land book. Each commissioner of the revenue shall deliver to the treasurer of his county or city and, if requested by the Department in writing, to the Department of Taxation one copy each of the land book o…

After the commissioner of the revenue shall have delivered a copy of his land book to the county or city treasurer, no alteration shall be made therein by him affecting the taxes or levies of that year.

Such changes as may happen within the county or city of any commissioner shall be noted by him in making out his land book.

Every commissioner, in making out his land book, shall correct any mistake made in any entry therein. But land which has been correctly charged to one person shall not afterwards be charged to another without evidence of record that such charge is proper.

The fees for entering and transferring lands on commissioners' land books shall be as follows: 1. For making an entry and assessment under § 58.1-3308, one dollar for every parcel, to be paid by the owner; 2. For making an entry and assessment, when required by any owner, under t…

All the fees mentioned in § 58.1-3314 shall be collected by the clerks of the courts of record of the counties and cities at the time of recording the deed or will or upon the confirmation of a commissioner's report of partition, or at the time an entry is made by the commissione…

Taxes for each year on real estate subject to assessment or reassessment shall be extended on the basis of the last general reassessment or biennial assessment made prior to such year, subject to such changes as may have been lawfully made.

A. When any annual assessment, biennial assessment, or general reassessment of real property by a county, city, or town would result in an increase of one percent or more in the total real property tax levied, such county, city, or town shall reduce its rate of levy for the forth…

A. Whenever in any county, city, or town there is a reassessment of real estate, or any change in the assessed value of any real estate, notice shall be given by mail directly to each property owner, as shown by the land books of the county, city, or town whose assessment has bee…

A. All property appraisal cards or sheets within the custody of a county, city or town assessing officer, except those cards or sheets containing information made confidential by § 58.1-3, shall be open for inspection, after the notice of reassessment is mailed as provided in § 5…

Each county, city or town assessing officer shall maintain current property appraisal cards or sheets for all parcels of real estate assessed and assessable by him. Any such assessing officer who maintains such property appraisal cards or sheets shall include thereon the appraise…

There shall be a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes and levies assessed thereon prior to any other lien or encumbrance. The lien shall continue to be such prior lien until actual payment shall have been made to the proper officer of the taxing authority. The purchaser a…

No lien upon real estate for taxes and levies due and payable to the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof which has been, or shall hereafter become, delinquent for twenty or more years shall be enforced in any proceeding at law or in equity and such lien shall be dee…

When an owner dies intestate, the commissioner of the revenue may ascertain who are the heirs of the intestate and charge the land to such heirs or he may charge the land to the decedent's estate until a transfer thereof. When the owner has devised the land, the commissioner may …

The lien on real estate owned by more than one person as tenants in common, joint tenants or otherwise for the payment of all prior, present and subsequent taxes and levies or assessments thereof, including any tax, levy, or assessment authorized under § 58.1-3712, 58.1-3713, 58.…

In any city, county, district or town: 1. Taxes assessed against real estate subject to taxes shall be a lien on the property and the name of the person listed as owner shall be for convenience in the collection of the taxes. The lien for taxes shall not be limited to the interes…

In any county in this Commonwealth which adjoins three cities lying wholly within this Commonwealth, one of which cities has a population of 190,000 or more, taxes and levies assessed against the land of a life tenant shall be a lien upon any matured timber growing upon such land…

Any person aggrieved by any assessment under this chapter may apply for relief to the board of assessors, or if none, to the board of equalization created under Article 14 (§ 58.1-3370 et seq.) of this chapter or may directly apply for relief to the appropriate circuit court of t…

The value of real estate as ascertained at a general reassessment and the ascertained value of new grants which may hereafter be entered and assessed shall only be changed to allow the addition of the value of improvements, or a total or partial deduction of the value of such imp…

If land lying in one county or city be erroneously assessed in another, the commissioner on whose book it is erroneously assessed shall certify the owner's name and the quantity, description and value of the land to the proper commissioner, who shall enter the same on his book, a…

No assessment of any real estate, whether heretofore or hereafter made, shall be held to be invalid because of any error, omission or irregularity by the commissioner of the revenue or other assessing officer in charging such real estate on the land book unless it be shown by the…

In the case of any real estate upon which any easement has been acquired for the installation of public service, highway or street facilities, and which has not been reassessed by the commissioner of the revenue on request of the landowner as provided in § 58.1-3351, the owner th…

In the event any deduction has been made from the value of real estate for any public service corporation easement under either § 58.1-3351 or § 58.1-3354, the commissioner of revenue or director of finance shall, on request, send the State Corporation Commission, the Department …

Any taxpayer whose lands, or any portion thereof, are in any year acquired or taken in any manner by the United States; the Commonwealth; a political subdivision; a church or religious body, which is exempt from taxation by Article X, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia; a …

The clerk of the court of the county or city in which is recorded the transfer of title to such property shall furnish a certificate to the county or city treasurer showing the quantity of land so taken or acquired, and whether by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision the…

Any such taxpayer, or his heirs, successors or assigns, who shall fail to have his taxes prorated by the county or city treasurer, as above provided, shall be entitled to apply to the appropriate court for proration of the taxes, as herein provided, in the same manner and within …

The clerk of the court of the county or city in which the lands described in § 58.1-3360 lie shall furnish a certificate to the Comptroller and to the county or city treasurer, showing the quantity of land taken or acquired by the government or religious body, the name of the for…

Any taxpayer whose lands are taken and who has paid his taxes and levies for the whole year, shall be entitled to recover such portion of the taxes, as he would be relieved from paying under the terms of § 58.1-3360, on any lands that may have been taken or acquired by the govern…

Any taxpayer whose lands are taken by condemnation, who appeals from the order or decree of the trial court vesting title in the lands in the United States and who, pending such appeal, pays the taxes and levies on such lands, accruing subsequent to such order or decree vesting t…

A. The circuit court having jurisdiction within each city and each county other than those counties operating under § 58.1-3371 shall, in each tax year immediately following the year a general reassessment or annual or biennial assessment is conducted in such city or county, appo…

Unless the county has a permanent board of equalization appointed according to law, the board of supervisors or other governing body of any county operating under the county executive form of government, or the county manager form of organization and government provided for in Ch…

A. Any county or city which uses the annual assessment method or the biennial assessment method authorized under § 58.1-3253 in lieu of periodic general assessments, may elect to create a permanent board of equalization in lieu of the board of equalization required under §§ 58.1-…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the City of Richmond may by ordinance elect to provide for a board of equalization or permanent board of equalization as provided in this article instead of a board of review.

Except as provided in § 58.1-3371 or 58.1-3373, every board of equalization shall be composed of not less than three members nor more than five members or the number of local election districts in the locality, whichever is greater. In addition to such regular members, at the req…

The members of every board of equalization shall receive compensation, for time actually engaged in the duties of the board, to be fixed by the governing body of the county or city and paid out of the local treasury. The governing body of every county and of every city may limit …

A. Every board of equalization shall elect one of its members as chairman and another as secretary, and may employ necessary clerical and other assistants and call in advisors and fix their compensation, subject to the approval of the governing body of the county or city, to be p…

Every board of equalization for a county not having a general reassessment of real estate shall procure for its use from the clerk of the circuit court of the county the copy of the land book on file in his office for the current year if available, otherwise for the preceding yea…

Each board of equalization shall sit at and for such time or times as may be necessary to discharge the duties imposed and to exercise the powers conferred by this chapter. Of each sitting public notice shall be given at least seven days beforehand by publication in a newspaper h…

A. The board shall hear and give consideration to such complaints and shall adjust and equalize such assessments and shall, moreover, be charged with the especial duty of increasing as well as decreasing assessments, whether specific complaint be laid or not, if in its judgment, …

Any taxpayer or his duly appointed representative may apply to the board of equalization for the adjustment to fair market value and equalization of his assessment, including errors in acreage, and any county or city through its appointed representative or attorney may apply to t…

A. The board shall hear and determine any and all such petitions and, by order, may increase, decrease or affirm the assessment of which complaint is made; and, by order, it may increase or decrease any assessment, upon its own motion. No assessment shall be increased until after…

The attorney for the county, city or town or any taxpayer, aggrieved by any such order, may apply to the circuit court of the county or city, for the correction and revision of such order, in the same manner and within the same time as is provided by law for the correction of err…

The board may direct the commissioner of the revenue to enter upon the land books real estate which is found to have been omitted, and to cancel duplicate assessments of real estate.

The board shall keep minutes of its meetings and enter therein all orders made and transmit promptly copies of such orders as relate to the increase or decrease of assessments to the taxpayer and commissioner of the revenue. The orders shall be recorded on forms prepared by the T…