A Research-Based Guide to Virginia Finances

Drydock overtime, FLSA rules and a floor that moves with the CPI

Ship repair in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News runs on shifts, drydock deadlines and overtime. Virginia does not write its own overtime rule for that work. Since 2022, Code 40.1-29.2 has applied the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's rules, exemptions and calculation methods, so overtime on a yard check is computed the federal way.

The floor beneath a trade wage is $12.77 an hour, in force from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027. It is not voted on each year. Code 40.1-28.10 adjusts it by the Consumer Price Index; the 2026 figure came from applying a 2.9% increase to 2025's $12.41. A journeyman electrician earns far above it; apprentices, helpers and the yard's support staff are closer to the line.

Hourly employees must be paid at least every two weeks or twice a month. Salaried staff may be paid monthly, as may work-study students and anyone whose weekly earnings exceed 150% of the Commonwealth's average weekly wage and who agrees to it. A yard that pays its hourly welders monthly is outside the statute even if its salaried planners are fine.

Four rates and no city tax: what the Commonwealth withholds

Virginia levies income tax at the state level only. No city or county taxes wages, so the tax layers on a Norfolk check match those on one from Roanoke or Arlington. The schedule has four rates: 2% on the first $3,000 of Virginia taxable income, 3% from $3,001 to $5,000, 5% from $5,001 to $17,000 and 5.75% above $17,000. The thresholds come from Code 58.1-320, have applied since 1990 and are not indexed, which is why the top rate reaches ordinary wages.

The standard deduction is $8,750 for single filers and $17,500 for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2026. Each personal exemption is worth $930. A reinstated deduction lets eligible educators claim up to $500 of classroom expenses from 2026. Employers capture exemptions on Form VA-4, withhold under the Employer Withholding Tables in effect since July 2025, remit quarterly, monthly or semi-weekly depending on liability and reconcile on Form VA-6 by January 31.

The marginal rate is 5.75% but the effective rate on a full wage is well below it. Treating 5.75% as a flat rate over-withholds. The Virginia paycheck calculator annualizes wages, applies the exemptions and runs the four brackets the way the tables do.

A Norfolk shipyard electrician's two-week check

Take a shipyard electrician in Norfolk at $29 an hour, 40 straight-time hours a week, paid biweekly, filing single with a standard VA-4 and no extra withholding. The site's calculator produces this for one check:

Figures come from the Online Paystub Virginia paycheck calculator for 2026. Local taxes, health premiums and retirement contributions are not included.

Notice that the Virginia line lands between Medicare and Social Security in size and that nothing local appears beneath it. Add a drydock week of overtime and the state figure rises faster than gross, because the extra dollars all fall in the 5.75% band while the lower bands were used up by the first $17,000 of taxable income.

Crossing the Potomac or the state line: reciprocity with five neighbors

Virginia's reciprocity reaches Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. A qualifying resident of one of those places whose only Virginia-source income is wages can be exempt from Virginia wage tax and pay at home instead. That covers a Maryland resident commuting into Northern Virginia and a West Virginia resident working in Winchester. It does not cover rental income, business income or gains on Virginia property, which stay Virginia-taxable wherever the owner lives.

North Carolina is not on the list. A North Carolina resident working in a Chesapeake yard is a nonresident with Virginia-source wages, files Form 763 and apportions if some of the work was performed outside the Commonwealth.

Residents are taxed on income from everywhere. A 2026 Tax Commissioner ruling confirmed that work done remotely from a Virginia home is Virginia-source income even when the employer sits elsewhere. When another state taxes the same income, Schedule OSC carries the credit that prevents double taxation. Filing thresholds are $11,950 for single or married filing separately and $23,900 for joint filers. Residents file Form 760; part-year residents file Form 760PY with prorated deductions and exemptions.

A pay statement checklist for July 1, 2026 and after

Code 40.1-29 has required a written statement or online accounting on every regular pay date since the start of 2020. On July 1, 2026, 2026 Va. Acts c. 1040 widened it: employer now reaches anyone acting in an employer's interest, wages expressly include salary, overtime, commissions, tips and bonuses, a three-year retention period is written into the code and the Attorney General can act for workers. Check each statement against this list.

• The employer's name and address are on the document itself.
• Hours worked appear if you are hourly. They also appear if you are salaried and not exempt from overtime under 29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1).
• The rate of pay is shown.
• Gross wages for the period are shown before any deduction.
• Each deduction lists both its amount and its purpose. One lump sum labeled deductions fails the statute.
• The statement holds enough information to work out how gross became net.
• No unemployment insurance line sits on the employee side. Virginia UI is charged to employers on the first $8,000 of each employee's annual wages and reported to the Virginia Employment Commission.
• A VRS line, if you are a public employee, matches your plan: 5% of creditable compensation for Plan 1 and Plan 2 members, 4% plus 1% for Hybrid members.

Agricultural, agribusiness and forestry employers are excepted from the statement rule. Everyone else, including a two-person marine electrical subcontractor, is inside it. The Virginia pay stub generator lays out hours, rate, gross and itemized deductions in that order. Final wages after a separation are due on or before the day they would normally have been paid.

6% in Hampton Roads, 5.3% almost everywhere else, 1% on groceries

Virginia's sales tax has one base and several regional layers. The state rate is 4.3% and a 1% local option applies everywhere, so the floor is 5.3%. Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Central Virginia carry an extra regional component that brings them to 6%, which is what a Norfolk or Virginia Beach receipt shows. Charlotte, Danville, Gloucester, Halifax, Henry, Northampton, Patrick and Pittsylvania are at 6.3% under an additional local 1%. James City County, Williamsburg and York County reach 7% in the Historic Triangle.

Groceries and essential personal hygiene products are taxed at 1% statewide since the state portion was removed on January 1, 2023. They are exempt from the regional add-ons. Restaurant meals and food for immediate consumption pay the full local rate. Pure services are generally exempt, as is separately stated installation and repair labor, so the labor line on a marine electrical invoice can be untaxed while the parts are not.

Sellers register for Retail Sales and Use Tax and file Form ST-1. A remote seller has nexus at more than $100,000 of annual Virginia gross retail sales or 200 or more Virginia transactions, whichever comes first. A $400 purchase in a 5.3% locality carries $21.20 of tax; the same purchase in Williamsburg carries $28. None of it comes out of a paycheck.