Click on the topics below to learn more about legislation that could affect Virginia CPAs:
- Tax conformity
- Virginia Board of Accountancy
- Regulatory reform
- Tax reform
- Tax preparation
- Other topics
If you have questions or comments, contact VSCPA Vice President, Advocacy Emily Walker, CAE, at (804) 612-9428 or follow her at twitter.com/VSCPAEmWalker.
Tax conformity | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
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Advances conformity with the federal tax code to Dec. 1, 2017. The bill contains an emergency clause. |
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A substitute version of HB 154 passed the Senate on Feb. 2 and the House on Feb. 6. It is awaiting Gov. Ralph Northam's signature. A substitute version of SB 230 passed the Senate on Jan. 26 and the House on Feb. 12. It is awaiting Gov. Northam's signature. |
Virginia Board of Accountancy | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
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Changes from every 12 months to a time period set by the Board of Accountancy the renewal requirement for licenses granted to provide the license holder the privilege of using the CPA title. The bill contains an emergency clause. |
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HB 752 passed the House on Feb. 5 and the Senate on Feb. 15. It is awaiting Gov. Northam's signature. SB 428 passed the Senate on Jan. 19 and the House General Laws Committee on Feb. 15. |
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| HB 753 (Leftwich) SB 279 (Barker) |
Exempts from the public participation provisions of the Administrative Process Act regulations of the Board of Accountancy that are limited to reducing fees charged to regulants and applicants. |  |
HB 753 passed the House on Feb. 5 and the Senate on Feb. 15. It is awaiting Gov. Northam's signature. SB 279 passed the Senate on Jan. 19 and the House General Laws Committee on Feb. 15. |
Regulatory reform | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
| Creates the Red Tape Reduction Commission (the Commission) to develop and maintain a state regulatory baseline of all current state regulatory requirements, with the initial baseline to be completed by January 1, 2020. The bill defines a regulatory requirement as any action required to be taken or information required to be provided in accordance with a statute or regulation in order to access government services or operate and conduct business and excludes requirements that are necessary to conform to changes in Virginia statutory law or the appropriation act where no agency discretion is involved or to meet requirements of federal law or regulations. |
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HB 23 was stricken from the docket in a House General Laws subcommittee Feb. 6. A substitute version of SB 20 passed the Senate on Feb. 13 and is under discussion in the House Appropriations Committee. |
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| HB 880 (Webert) | Establishes the position of professional and occupational regulatory analyst within the Division of Legislative Services to assist the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules in (i) exerting its best efforts to evaluate at least three professions or occupations in each year and (ii) to the extent feasible, reviewing legislation establishing or modifying an occupational regulation to determine whether the legislation uses the least restrictive regulation necessary to protect or preserve the public health, safety, and welfare. The evaluation shall include recommendations for changes to occupational regulations to encourage use of the least restrictive regulation necessary. | HB 880 was passed by indefinitely in the House Rules Committee on Jan. 26. | |
| HB 883 (Webert) |
Establishes the regulatory budget program to be administered by the Department of Planning and Budget (Department). The bill provides for the Department to establish an initial regulation baseline budget consisting of the total number of regulations enforced by executive branch state agencies. Between October 1, 2018, and July1, 2021, no new regulation may be approved by the Department unless the proposing agency also submits two or more of its current regulations to be replaced or repealed. In addition, the bill establishes a process whereby a state agency can request an exemption from the two-for-one requirement. The bill also requires the Department to submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly on the status of the regulation baseline budget. |
A substitute version of HB 883 passed the House on Feb. 12 and is under discussion in the Senate Finance Committee. | |
| HB 1114 (VanValkenburg) | Provides that the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Health Professions, the Board of Accountancy, and the Board of Education shall not be authorized to suspend or revoke the license, certificate, registration, permit, or authority it has issued any person who is in default or delinquent in the payment of a federal-guaranteed or state-guaranteed educational loan or work-conditional scholarship solely on the basis of such default or delinquency. | HB 1114 passed the House on Feb. 5 and the Senate Education and Health Committee on Feb. 15. It is under discussion in the Senate. | |
| HB 1192 (Cline) | Requires all executive branch agencies to develop regulations in the least burdensome and intrusive manner possible and provides guiding principles for the development, adoption, and repeal of regulations. The bill also requires each agency to establish a schedule for the review of all regulations for which the agency is the primary responsible agency. The schedule shall encompass a 10-year period and provide for the annual review of at least 10 percent of an agency's regulations by July 1 of each year. Under the bill, the Governor will submit an annual report containing the findings of the regulation reviews by August 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the standing committees of the House of Delegates and the Senate. | HB 1192 was left in the House General Laws Committee on Feb. 13. | |
| HB 1195 (Cline) | Creates the Joint Commission to Evaluate Professional and Occupational Licensing Requirements of the various regulatory boards within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. The bill provides that to assist the Joint Commission in carrying out its powers and duties, the General Assembly shall adopt a schedule for its timely review of the statutory and regulatory professional and occupational licensing requirements of the regulatory boards within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. The schedule adopted shall require that no less than 20 percent of such licensing requirements be reviewed annually, and the bill states that the General Assembly may delegate the process of adopting such schedule to the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules. | A substitute version of HB 1195 was laid on the table in the General Government & Capital Outlay Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 7. | |
| HB 1213 (Head) | Provides for a referendum at the Nov. 6, 2018, election to approve or reject an amendment that would permit the General Assembly to suspend or nullify any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation by a joint resolution agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house. The amendment would also grant the General Assembly the authority to authorize a legislative committee or legislative committees acting jointly or a legislative commission to suspend any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation while the General Assembly is not in a regular session. Such suspension would continue until the end of the next regular session. | HB 1213 was left in the House Privileges and Elections Committee on Feb. 13. | |
| HJ 111 (Head) | Provides that the General Assembly may suspend or nullify any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation by a joint resolution agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each house. The amendment also grants to the General Assembly the authority to authorize a legislative committee or legislative committees acting jointly or a legislative commission to suspend any or all portions of any administrative rule or regulation while the General Assembly is not in a regular session. Such suspension would continue until the end of the next regular session. | HJ 111 was left in the House Privileges and Elections Committee on Feb. 13. |
Tax Reform | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
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HB 966 (Davis) |
Provides, for taxable years 2018 through 2022, a refundable credit against individual and corporate income taxes for a business's aggregate tax liability under the machinery and tools tax, the merchants' capital tax, and the business, professional, and occupational license (BPOL) tax. |
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HB 966 was continued to 2019 in a House Finance subcommittee on Jan. 29. |
| HB 1444 (Pogge) | Allows an individual taxpayer to itemize for state income tax purposes regardless of whether he itemizes on his federal return. Current law requires a taxpayer to claim the standard deduction on his state return if he claims the standard deduction on his federal return. | HB 1444 was continued to 2019 in a House Finance subcommittee on Jan. 31. | |
| SB 390 (Marsden) | Makes numerous changes to the Commonwealth's tax structure. The bill creates two new income brackets for the calculation of individual income taxes and lowers the corporate income tax rate. The tax credit for low-income taxpayers would become refundable, and taxpayers would be prohibited from using the same donation to both receive certain tax credits and take a charitable deduction. The bill reinstates the estate tax. The state sales tax on food would be eliminated, and sales tax would be imposed on certain services and digital products. The transient occupancy tax would be imposed on the entire cost of the use or possession of the room. The tobacco tax would be raised. | SB 390 was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 31. | |
| SB 745 (Sturtevant) | Increases, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2019, but before January 1, 2020, the amount of the standard deduction to equal the amount of the federal standard deduction. In future tax years, the deduction will be adjusted by a percentage equal to the difference in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers between the current year and 2019. Despite the indexing, the amount of the deduction will never fall below $3,000 for individuals or $6,000 for married persons filing jointly. | SB 745 was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 31. |
Tax Preparation | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
| Requires paid income tax return preparers to notify the Department of Taxation within a reasonable time period if they discover that an unauthorized person has accessed a taxpayer's return information. The bill defines return information and provides that it does not include publicly available information. |
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A substitute version of HB 183 passed the House on Feb. 13. It is under discussion in the Senate Finance Committee. A substitute version of SB 271 passed the Senate on Jan. 22 and is under discussion in the House Finance Committee. |
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| HB 788 (Keam) | Directs the Department of Taxation (the Department) to require paid tax return preparers to provide their federal Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) when preparing or assisting in preparing tax returns. The bill authorizes the Department to bar or suspend tax return preparers for repeated failure to provide their PTIN and imposes a civil penalty of $50 for each failure to provide a PTIN, not to exceed $25,000 per year. The bill requires the Department to promulgate regulations for using the PTIN as an oversight mechanism to identify patterns of fraud. In addition, the bill directs the Department to establish information-sharing protocols with the Internal Revenue Service and authorizes the Department to establish similar protocols with other states. | HB 788 passed the House on Feb. 2 and the Senate on Feb. 16. It is awaiting Gov. Northam's signature. |
Other Topics | Top
| Bill number (Patron) | Bill summary | Position | Status |
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SB 672 (Deeds) |
Revises the definition of "small employer" for purposes of health insurance to provide that it includes a self-employed person. The measure also provides that an individual who is the sole shareholder of a corporation or sole member of a limited liability company, or an immediate family member of such sole shareholder or member, qualifies as an employee of the corporation or limited liability company if he performed any service for remuneration under a contract of hire for the corporation or limited liability company. |
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SB 672 passed the Senate on Feb. 2 and is under discussion in the House Commerce and Labor Committee. |