VIRGINIA PAYROLL RESOURCES · VA · REVIEWED 2026-10-03
Review Virginia paystub requirements, withholding resources, unemployment-tax guidance, and employer coverage rules. Run payroll for a small team and get employee statements from every calculated run.
AT A GLANCE
Virginia law requires most non-agricultural employers to provide a written pay statement, paystub, or online accounting on each regular pay date. The record must give employees enough information to understand how gross and net pay were calculated, while state withholding, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation remain separate employer obligations.
On each regular pay date, most covered employers must provide the employer name and address, applicable hours, rate of pay, gross wages, deduction amounts and purposes, and enough information to determine gross and net pay.
See details →Use the Virginia Employer Withholding Tables and employee Form VA-4 information for the actual payroll period. The current tables apply to wages paid after July 1, 2025 until replaced.
View withholding forms →Virginia’s unemployment taxable wage base is $8,000 per employee. Base rates normally range from 0.1% to 6.2%, and a new employer generally receives a 2.5% base rate plus applicable add-ons.
View VEC rate guidance →Virginia generally requires workers’ compensation coverage when an employer regularly has more than two employees. In some contractor situations, subcontractor employees count toward that threshold.
View coverage requirements →STATE PAYROLL OVERVIEW
Virginia’s statute is unusually specific about the information employees need to understand their paycheck. The required statement can be a traditional paystub or an online accounting, but it must identify the employer, show the rate and gross wages, explain deductions, and provide sufficient information to determine how gross and net pay were calculated.
Hours are required when the employee is paid by the number of hours worked and also for certain salaried employees below the federal overtime-exemption salary threshold referenced by Virginia law. The statute also creates a clear retention rule: the employer must keep the paystubs or online accounting for at least three years after the work was performed.
Agricultural employment, including agribusiness and forestry, is treated differently. Instead of the regular-pay-date requirement described above, the statute provides that the employer must furnish a written statement of gross wages and deductions upon the employee’s request.
PAYROLL REQUIREMENTS CHECKLIST
Use this checklist to capture the information Virginia expects on a covered regular-pay-date statement and to keep the wage record separate from tax and insurance obligations.
On each regular pay date, most non-agricultural employers must provide a written statement by paystub or online accounting. Agricultural, agribusiness, and forestry employers have a different request-based statement rule.
Show employer name and address; applicable hours worked; rate of pay; gross wages; amount and purpose of deductions; and enough information for the employee to determine how gross and net pay were calculated.
Use the current Virginia Employer Withholding Tables and the employee’s applicable VA-4 information for the pay period. Do not substitute a single generic withholding percentage.
Review Virginia unemployment tax and workers’ compensation coverage separately. The unemployment wage base and assigned employer rate determine UI liability, while workers’ compensation generally turns on the number and type of workers regularly employed.
PAYROLL RECORDS IN PRACTICE
Virginia expressly allows the required regular-pay-date information to be provided through a written paystub or online accounting. Whatever format is used, the employee must be able to understand how gross and net pay were calculated from the information shown.
Virginia requires the employer to keep the covered paystubs or online accounting for at least three years following the date the work was performed. Preserve the underlying wage, deduction, and tax records that support those statements as well.
USE CURRENT VIRGINIA TABLES — NOT A GENERIC PERCENTAGE
Virginia Tax publishes employer withholding tables, instructions, and employee withholding forms. The current tables listed by Virginia Tax are the “July 2025 and Later” tables and should be used for applicable wages until the agency publishes a replacement.
Use the current Virginia wage tables or calculation method for the employee’s payroll frequency and exemptions rather than estimating withholding from a flat percentage.
View current tables →Virginia Tax maintains Form VA-4, employer instructions, employer returns, and related withholding documents on its official forms page.
View withholding forms →LOCAL CONSIDERATIONS
Virginia’s paystub, state withholding, unemployment, and workers’ compensation rules are primarily state-administered. Employers should therefore start with the statewide payroll framework and then check licensing, business-tax, or industry requirements that may apply in the locality where the business operates.
A SOURCE-BACKED WORKFLOW
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OFFICIAL VIRGINIA SOURCES USED FOR THIS PAGE
This guidance is based on Virginia government sources. Statutes, withholding tables, unemployment rates, and insurance requirements can change, so recheck the applicable source before acting.
Primary authority for regular-pay-date statements, required fields, the agricultural exception, and three-year retention.
Current employer withholding tables, VA-4 forms, employer instructions, and filing resources.
Official unemployment-tax rate structure and employer guidance, including the $8,000 taxable wage base and new-employer rate framework.
Official rule explaining when employers must carry coverage and how subcontractor employees can affect the employee count.
RESEARCH & REVIEW
This page is built from primary Virginia state government sources and is periodically reviewed against current agency guidance. We use the Virginia Code, Virginia Tax, the Virginia Employment Commission, and the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission whenever available.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ACCURATE RECORDS. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE.
Prepare a Virginia Pay Run, review gross-to-net calculations before completion, and keep the applicable Virginia sources with your payroll workflow.