Youngkin asks lawmakers to return $4.5 billion to over-taxed Virginians

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Virginia is expected to see some much extra cash flowing in this year that Governor Glenn Youngkin is calling on lawmakers to return billions of dollars to taxpayers.

In a letter to Delegate Barry D. Knight and Senator Janet D. Howell, both of whom chair financial committees, Youngkin explained that Virginia’s revised forecast estimates the Commonwealth will collect $1.25 billion more in the current fiscal year on top of the additional $3.3 billion added to the original forecast added last December.

“This is a staggering number, the largest mid-session re-forecast in anyone’s memory,” the governor wrote. And without tax relief, the Commonwealth’s general fund collections will grow by over 40% between 2018 and 2024, Youngkin added.

“The stunning amount of money being collected from taxpayers is the direct result of over-taxation,” the governor declared in his letter, adding “…it is clear that we must return money to taxpayers to relieve the pressures of inflation and economic uncertainty felt by families and businesses.”

Youngkin told the lawmakers that Virginia is lagging behind its competitor states in growth but leading them all in the cost of living.

“Our cost of living is too high and that is a factor in the decision to move here versus other states,” Youngkin noted. And taxes are one of the factors he cited as driving up the cost of being a Virginian.

In the letter, Youngkin said that of the $13.4 billion in unanticipated revenue that the state will collect, he is asking the General Assembly to return $4.5 billion to taxpayers. That will leave about $9 billion in new revenue to invest in schools and teachers, law enforcement, behavioral health, and other important priorities of the General Assembly, he added.

Youngkin’s call for “significant tax relief” is multi-faceted and includes eliminating the grocery tax, doubling the standard deduction, providing a tax rebate, eliminating taxes on $40,000 in veterans’ retirement income, and deferring the most recent increase in the gas tax. “All of these items should be the centerpiece of any bipartisan compromise on the budget,” his letter stated.

Did you know: Virginia is slated to add a new state park