Virginia has performance-based incentives for companies that locate or grow in the Commonwealth.
Discretionary Incentives
The Commonwealth of Virginia offers an array of discretionary incentives for competitive projects evaluating a Virginia location, providing financial inducements that make good fiscal sense for all parties. Performance-based incentives target the needs of companies as well as the development plans of localities and the Commonwealth.
Provides grants to localities for businesses that add value to Virginia-grown agriculture and forestry products
Provides “deal-closing” grants at the Governor's discretion to secure a company location or expansion in Virginia
Provides grants to companies to make investments and provide a significant number of stable jobs through a significant expansion or new operation
Provides grants to companies that construct new maritime-related employment centers or expand existing centers
Provides grants to companies that invest and create new employment opportunities by locating significant headquarters, administrative, or service sector operations in Virginia
Provides grants to existing Virginia manufacturers or manufacturing-related research and development services that continue capital investment in the Commonwealth
The Virginia Offshore Wind Supplier Development Grant (VOWSD) encourages existing Virginia companies to enter the offshore wind supply chain.
Financial Assistance
A variety of financing options are available to companies and localities through state-level partners. These programs can meet many different project sizes and financing needs.
Provides small businesses and communities with debt financing resources for business formation and expansion
Infrastructure Assistance
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) offer several programs to assist localities in providing adequate infrastructure access for industrial and commercial projects. These programs are designed to assist Virginia localities in attracting companies that will create jobs and generate tax revenues within the locality.
Provides funds to localities for road improvements needed to create adequate access for new or substantially expanding companies
Provides funds to construct railroad tracks to new or substantially expanded industrial and commercial projects having a positive impact on economic development in Virginia
Awards grants, revolving loans, or other financial assistance to an agency or locality for projects related to transportation capacity expansion
Recruitment & Training Incentives
Virginia offers financial assistance and training to companies that seek to attract and retain qualified employees in the Commonwealth.
Provides services and funding to companies creating new jobs or implementing technological change to reduce human resource development costs for new companies, expanding companies, and companies retraining their employees
Provides world-class training and recruitment solutions that are fully customized to a company’s unique operations, equipment, standards, and culture. All program services are provided at no cost to qualified new and expanding companies as an incentive for job creation.
Regional & Local Assistance
A number of targeted incentive programs exist in designated regions of the Commonwealth and within individual localities to attract businesses and assist in their growth. These programs can be statutory or discretionary and may offer additional financing options in some areas of Virginia.
Allows businesses to defer paying U.S. Customs duties on imported goods held within the zones until the goods enter the United States for domestic consumption
Provides performance-based grants and loans to localities in Virginia's tobacco-producing regions (34 counties and six cities in southern and southwestern Virginia)
Provides low-interest loans or grants to qualified new or expanding businesses in a seven-county, one-city region in southwestern Virginia
Provides grants to businesses that create high-wage, full-time, permanent positions with health benefits in an Enterprise Zone that are net new jobs for Virginia
Provides grants to investors that undertake rehabilitation, expansion, or new construction projects within the boundaries of an Enterprise Zone
Tax Incentives
Virginia offers stable, low-tax costs for companies, including the benefits of no franchise or net-worth tax, a modest sales tax with a broad range of exemptions, and a 6% corporate income tax rate, which has not changed since 1972. Aiding the stable tax environment in the Commonwealth is a toolbox of credits and exemptions that companies can claim on taxes ranging from the sales and use tax to the corporate income tax.
Offers sales and use tax exemptions for use by a farmer for purchase of tangible personal property for use in producing agricultural products for market, medicine and drugs sold to a veterinarian, or property used to produce agricultural products for market in an indoor, closed, controlled environment commercial agricultural facility.
Offers per-unit credit for “international trade facilities” that transport containers using barge or rail, rather than trucks or other motor vehicles on Virginia’s highways
Offers sales and use tax exemption for purchases used directly in production or research and development
Offers exemption for qualifying computer equipment or enabling software purchased or leased for use in certain data centers in the Commonwealth that meet minimum investment and job creation requirements
Offers annual individual or corporate income tax credit for each new green job in the field of renewable or alternative energy
Offers income tax credit for capital investment or job creation related to an international trade facility
Offers $1,000 income tax credit for each new full-time job created over a jobs threshold for companies locating or expanding in Virginia
Offers individual and corporate income tax credit for incurring more than $5 million of Virginia qualified research and development expenses in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016
Offers an exemption from corporate income tax, and up to $2,000 per new job, for companies with no employment or property in the state prior to January 1, 2018 and that meet statutory investment and employment requirements.
Virginia’s Port Volume Increase Tax Credit benefits manufacturing, distribution, agriculture, and mineral and gas companies that utilize Virginia’s port facilities. A company that increases its usage by 5% in a single calendar year over its base year of port cargo volume can receive $50 per TEU in excess over the previous year’s cargo volume
An income tax credit is available to manufacturers for the purchase of certified machinery and equipment used for processing recyclable materials in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2025.
Offers individual and corporate income tax credit for taxpayers with qualified research and development expenses in Virginia under $5 million per year
Offers employer tax credit of 35% for eligible training costs of eligible worker training to qualified employees, or for the direct costs of providing manufacturing training or instruction to middle and high school students.