Arlington, VA Tax Rates: Due Dates, Exemptions, and Appeals

Arlington County, Virginia charges a base real estate tax of $1.053 per $100 of assessed value for the fiscal year beginning July 2026, with bills split into two installments due June 15 and October 5.¹² The county also taxes vehicles, business gross receipts, restaurant meals, and hotel stays, and it offers relief for seniors, permanently disabled residents, and 100% disabled veterans. The county’s fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30.

Real Estate Tax

The Department of Real Estate Assessments values every residential and commercial property each year as of January 1. You receive an assessment notice early in the year; that value multiplied by the tax rate becomes your bill.

The base residential rate for the fiscal year starting July 2026 is $1.053 per $100 of assessed value.¹ A small sanitary district levy for stormwater is combined with the base rate on your bill. Commercial properties pay the residential rate plus a transportation surcharge of 12.5 cents per $100, and properties inside certain business-improvement districts may face an additional surcharge on top of that.

The total bill is split into two equal installments due June 15 and October 5. If either date falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day without penalty.²

To put the rate in perspective: a home assessed at $700,000 owes roughly $7,371 in base tax per year before any surcharges.

Vehicle Personal Property Tax

If you garage or regularly park a vehicle, trailer, or motorcycle in Arlington, you owe personal property tax on it. The county assesses taxable value each year based on ownership as of January 1, using the clean trade-in value from the J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide.³

The Personal Property Tax Relief Act of 1998 provides a state-funded subsidy on qualifying passenger vehicles, applied to the first $20,000 of assessed value.⁴ Vehicles used primarily for business or above certain weight limits may not qualify. The credit appears automatically on your bill, and the Commonwealth reimburses the county for it.

Vehicle personal property tax is due October 5 each year.⁵ The county cross-checks registrations through the DMV, so registering a car in Arlington triggers the obligation. If your vehicle has higher mileage or damage the guide value does not reflect, you can file a valuation appeal for a reduction.⁶

Business License (BPOL) Tax

If you operate a business in Arlington, you owe the Business, Professional and Occupational License tax based on the prior calendar year’s gross receipts:

$10,000 or less: no tax owed.
$10,001 to $50,000: flat fee of $30.
$50,001 to $100,000: flat fee of $50.
Over $100,000: a percentage of gross receipts above $100,000, at a rate that depends on your business classification.⁷

Retail, professional services, contracting, and other categories have separate rate schedules. Professional service firms typically pay a higher rate per $100 of gross receipts than retail operations, and misclassification is one of the more common errors the county flags. Arlington publishes a detailed rate chart by business section code on its website.

Meals and Lodging Taxes

Arlington imposes a 4% county meals tax on food and beverages sold by restaurants and similar establishments, collected by the seller on top of standard sales tax. Hotels, motels, and short-term rentals (including platforms like Airbnb) are subject to a transient occupancy tax of 7.25% on stays of 29 consecutive days or fewer. That figure includes Virginia’s regional transient occupancy levy plus Arlington’s portion.

Tax Relief and Exemptions

Seniors and Permanently Disabled Residents

The Real Estate Tax Relief Program reduces or eliminates property taxes for homeowners at least 65 years old or permanently and totally disabled. For the 2026 tax year, household gross income cannot exceed $99,472, and net worth (excluding your primary residence) cannot exceed $433,101.⁸ Where you fall within those limits determines whether you receive a partial reduction or a full exemption. Both thresholds are adjusted periodically based on regional economic data.⁹

Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses

Veterans rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with a 100% service-connected, permanent, and total disability qualify for a full real estate tax exemption on their primary residence. The exemption extends to a surviving spouse who has not remarried and continues to live in the home.¹⁰

Late Payment Penalties and Interest

Missing an Arlington tax deadline gets expensive quickly, and the penalty structure varies by tax.

Real estate tax paid within 30 days after the due date triggers a 5% penalty (or $5, whichever is greater). If the bill is still unpaid after 30 days, another 5% penalty applies on top of the first.⁵

For personal property and most other local taxes, the initial penalty is steeper: 10% of the overdue amount (or $10, whichever is greater). If the balance remains unpaid 60 days after the due date, a second penalty of 15% of the outstanding tax is added.⁵

Interest accrues at 10% per year starting the day after the tax is due and continues until you pay in full.¹¹ The county can also recover collection agency or attorney fees of up to 20% on delinquent accounts.

How to Pay

Arlington offers three main ways to pay your taxes:

Online through the Customer Access Payment Portal (CAPP), which accepts credit cards and electronic checks and shows all your tax accounts in one place with immediate digital confirmation.
By mail, using the return envelope included with your bill. The postmark date counts as your payment date.
At the 24-hour secure drop box at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, which accepts checks and money orders (no cash). To count as on time, your payment must be deposited by midnight before the due date.¹²

Confirm your account number before submitting any payment. Funds applied to the wrong account do not satisfy your deadline, and sorting it out afterward takes time you may not have before penalties begin.

Appealing Your Real Estate Assessment

If you think your property was overvalued, Arlington provides three levels of appeal. You do not have to move through them in order, though most residents start with the least formal option.

Department Review: file a request by March 1 with the Department of Real Estate Assessments. An appraiser will contact you to schedule an inspection and then submit a recommendation to the department director. The result can be a decrease, a confirmation, or an increase. If you have not received a decision by April 1, file a Board of Equalization appeal to preserve that option.¹³
Board of Equalization: appeals must be filed or postmarked by April 15. The Board issues an independent ruling. You can skip department review and go directly here.¹⁴
Circuit Court: if the Board’s decision still feels wrong, your final option is filing suit in Circuit Court.

The burden of proof falls on you at every level. Saying your taxes are too high is not enough. Useful evidence includes comparable sales data from the prior analysis period, documented errors in your property’s records (wrong square footage, incorrect number of bathrooms), or proof that similar nearby properties were assessed at meaningfully lower values.¹⁴

1
Arlington County. County Board Advertises Tax Rate Increase to Protect Core Services
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Arlington County. Real Estate Taxes and Payments
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Arlington County. Vehicles
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Arlington County. Vehicle Tax Relief (PPTRA)
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Arlington County. Tax Payment Due Dates
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Arlington County. Vehicle Valuation Personal Property Tax Appeals
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Arlington County. Business Types and Tax Rates
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Arlington County. Real Estate Tax Relief Program
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Arlington County. Tax Relief and Exemptions
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Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5 – Exemption From Taxes on Property for Disabled Veterans
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Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-3916 – Counties, Cities, and Towns May Provide Dates for Filing
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Arlington County. Payment Options
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Arlington County. Assessment Appeals Process
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Arlington County. Assessment Appeals