Virginia property tax: how it works, with Arlington figures

How is assessed value set in Virginia?

The Constitution requires all real estate to be assessed at fair market value (Art. X, § 2). The Code says general reassessments and annual assessments must be made at 100 percent of fair market value (§ 58.1-3201). Arlington assesses every property each year, as of January 1. It defines fair market value as the price your property would sell for under normal market conditions (Arlington Real Estate Assessments FAQ). You receive your assessment notice each January (Arlington Assessments).

Arlington’s rate and an example bill

Arlington’s County Board adopts the rate each April (Arlington FAQ). On April 22, 2026, it adopted a rate of $1.053 per $100, a 2-cent increase from $1.033, as part of its FY 2027 budget. Taxes are billed in two equal installments, due June 15 and October 5.

This is an example, not a bill. Use the county’s 2026 average residential assessment of $882,900:

Your own bill uses your own assessment. Look it up with the county, and compare your closing statement’s tax proration with it. For the other costs of buying, see Virginia closing costs, and for Arlington specifics see the Arlington page.

Is there a homestead exemption?

The Arlington pages I read list no general exemption for a homeowner’s primary residence. They list targeted programs instead:

• Real Estate Tax Relief Program for homeowners 65 or older, or totally and permanently disabled. It provides an exemption or deferral. For 2025, the income limit is $105,937, and the asset limit, excluding the home, is $499,709 for an exemption or $674,606 for a deferral. The filing deadline is November 15. State law lets each locality adopt such a program by ordinance (§ 58.1-3210).
• Disabled veterans: The Constitution requires an exemption for the principal residence of a veteran with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disability (Art. X, § 6-A). It extends to a surviving spouse who does not remarry.
• Surviving spouses of service members killed in action: Arlington exempts the principal residence if it is zoned single-family, up to the average residential assessment.

Arlington also lists abatements for damaged buildings and partial exemptions for rehabilitated property. Ask the county about eligibility and the current year’s limits.

Are there caps on assessment increases?

I found no limit on how much one home’s assessment may rise in the pages and statutes I read. Virginia limits the total instead. When assessments would raise a locality’s total real estate tax by 1 percent or more, the locality must lower its rate so the levy rises no more than 1 percent from the prior year, unless its governing body holds a separate public hearing and chooses a higher rate (§ 58.1-3321). New construction is left out of that calculation.

How to appeal an assessment

Arlington’s process has three levels:

1. Department review. File by March 1 each year, or the next business day if March 1 falls on a weekend. In 2026 the deadline was March 2. An appraiser reviews the case, and the Director of Real Estate Assessments decides.
2. Board of Equalization. File by April 15. You may go straight to the Board without a department review. If you have no department decision by April 1, the county advises filing with the Board to preserve the option.
3. Circuit Court. If you disagree with the Board, you may sue. A court application must be filed within three years of the last day of the tax year, or within one year of the assessment, whichever is later (§ 58.1-3984).

At the Board, the assessor’s value is presumed correct. You must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is valued above fair market value, or that the assessment is not uniform and not made under accepted appraisal practice. Mistakes of fact, including computation, count as not following accepted practice (§ 58.1-3379). The 2026 deadlines have passed; the 2027 dates will be on your January notice.