Who has to make Virginia quarterly estimated payments, the 2026 due-date calendar, the safe-harbor rules that avoid an underpayment penalty, and how to pay through Individual Online Account.
Who must pay
Virginia’s Form 760ES trigger is straightforward: file if your 2026 tax bill, net of withholding and credits, is projected above $1,000. Below a companion income line — $11,950 (single or married filing separately) or $23,900 (married filing jointly) — you’re excused regardless of that first test, and the whole obligation vanishes anyway if your final underpayment lands at $1,000 or less.
2026 due-date calendar
Installment
% of annual estimate
Due date
Note
Q1
25%
May 1, 2026
Due May 1 — Virginia’s own income tax return deadline, not the federal April 15.
Q2
25%
June 15, 2026
—
Q3
25%
September 15, 2026
—
Q4
25%
January 15, 2027
—
Four equal 25% installments apply only if you first owe estimated tax on or before April 15. Start later and Virginia compresses the schedule: three payments of 33⅓% each (June 15/September 15/January 15) if you start by June 1; two payments of 50% each (September 15/January 15) if you start by September 1; or one 100% payment with the January 15 voucher if you start after September 1. Farmers, fishermen, and merchant seamen (at least ⅔ of expected Virginia gross income from that work) only need to file the January 15 voucher, or can skip Form 760ES entirely by filing and paying their full 2026 return by March 1, 2027.
Safe harbor — avoiding the underpayment penalty
Meeting either of two marks keeps Virginia’s addition to tax off your account: 90% of what 2026 actually costs you (66⅔% for qualifying farmers, fishermen, or merchant seamen), or 100% of your full 2025 liability from a return that covered all twelve months. Virginia holds this line flat regardless of income — nothing in the statute pushes the prior-year figure higher once a taxpayer’s earnings climb past some cutoff, a contrast with several other states on this list that do exactly that above $150,000. A total shortfall of $1,000 or less across the year draws no addition to tax at all, independent of either percentage test.
How to calculate your payment
Estimate your annual Virginia tax, test it against the safe harbor above, then split the required annual payment across the installments in the calendar. The site's quarterly planner handles the math and the federal side together.
Pay online through Individual Online Account, or mail a check or money order with the Form 760ES voucher.
Electronic payment is required once any single installment or extension payment exceeds $1,500, or your total annual Virginia income tax liability exceeds $6,000. Virginia does not publish a distinct numeric penalty for a missed required e-payment beyond the standard late-payment penalty and interest; a separate $35 fee applies if your bank rejects an ACH debit or credit transmission.
Penalty basics
Rather than a single flat percentage, Virginia bills interest quarter by quarter at 2 points above the federal short-term rate under Va. Code §58.1-15 — a figure the Department resets every three months. That rate ran 9% for Q1 2026, dipped to 8% for Q2, then climbed back to 9% for Q3 (July through September), so the number governing any given installment depends on when it fell due.
Virginia-specific notes
Virginia’s first estimated voucher comes due May 1 — a full two weeks past the federal April 15 — because the state’s own annual return deadline sits at May 1, not April 15.
Virginia levies no local or county income tax on individuals whatsoever; the state code’s article authorizing one was repealed, leaving real estate, personal property (car tax), and BPOL as the only local revenue tools.
Paper filers get an unusual choice of mailing address: send the 760ES voucher to the Department of Taxation in Richmond, or hand it to your own city or county’s Commissioner of the Revenue or Treasurer instead.
Farmers, fishermen, and merchant seamen earning at least two-thirds of their gross income from that work collapse the entire year into one January 15 payment, or skip Form 760ES altogether by filing and paying their full return by March 1.
When are Virginia estimated tax payments due in 2026?
The four Virginia due dates for 2026 are May 1, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026, January 15, 2027. Four equal 25% installments apply only if you first owe estimated tax on or before April 15. Start later and Virginia compresses the schedule: three payments of 33⅓% each (June 15/September 15/January 15) if you start by June 1; two payments of 50% each (September 15/January 15) if you start by September 1; or one 100% payment with the January 15 voucher if you start after September 1. Farmers, fishermen, and merchant seamen (at least ⅔ of expected Virginia gross income from that work) only need to file the January 15 voucher, or can skip Form 760ES entirely by filing and paying their full 2026 return by March 1, 2027.
Why is Virginia’s first estimated tax payment due May 1 instead of April 15?
Because Virginia’s own individual return is due May 1, not April 15 like the federal deadline — the first Form 760ES voucher simply follows suit. The remaining three vouchers (June 15, September 15, January 15) match the usual federal calendar.
Does Virginia charge high earners a bigger prior-year safe harbor than everyone else?
No — Virginia’s 90%/100% test is identical no matter your income. Farmers, fishermen, and merchant seamen get a lower 66⅔% current-year figure instead, but that break has nothing to do with income level.
Do Virginia residents owe a separate local or county estimated tax?
No. Virginia has no local individual income tax at all — a real departure from Maryland’s county piggyback system — so cities and counties fund themselves through property, vehicle, and business-license taxes instead.
How do I pay Virginia estimated tax?
Pay online through Individual Online Account, or mail a check with the Form 760ES voucher. Electronic payment is required once any single installment or extension payment exceeds $1,500, or your total annual Virginia income tax liability exceeds $6,000. Virginia does not publish a distinct numeric penalty for a missed required e-payment beyond the standard late-payment penalty and interest; a separate $35 fee applies if your bank rejects an ACH debit or credit transmission.
Estimated tax in other states
Compare how Virginia stacks up against the other states with a Rising search trend for estimated-tax rules.