Richmonders to get $3.5K tax cut in 2026
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The average Richmonder will see a federal tax cut of nearly $3,500 in 2026 thanks to the "big, beautiful bill," per an analysis from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group that mostly supports lower taxes.
Why it matters: That's money folks can spend on other things — which could be essential next year given that wages still haven't caught up with inflation and tariffs threaten to push costs up further.
State of play: The spending bill Congress passed last month made President Trump's first term tax cuts permanent — and added on a bunch more.
- The new tax breaks include deductions for tips and overtime income, a cut for seniors and an expanded child-care credit.
- These are temporary provisions.
By the numbers: At $3,773, Richmond city residents will see the largest average tax cut next year among RVA metro area localities, per the Tax Foundation's number crunching.
- Chesterfield residents will see the smallest — $3,183.
- For Hanover taxpayers: $3,668.
- And it's $3,366 for Henrico residents.
Zoom out: There are broad geographic differences in tax benefits from the spending bill due to variations in state and local taxes, plus areas where more high-earners live, Axios' Emily Peck and Jason Lalljee report.
- Virginia's Goochland County residents will see some of the largest average tax cuts in the state ($7,359), while Petersburg taxpayers will see the smallest ($1,428).
- The largest cuts in the country are going to mountain resort towns where high-earners and business owners live. In Teton County, Wy., residents will see an average tax cut of $37,373, the highest in the U.S.
- The smallest breaks are in rural counties — like Loup County, in Nebraska, where the average tax cut is $824.
Zoom in: Business owners will get some of the biggest cuts — thanks, in part, to tax breaks being made permanent for research and development expenses and other provisions.
- Those in high-tax coastal regions will also get big breaks, thanks to the increased cap on state and local tax deductions (known as SALT — also temporary).
- For example, the average tax cut in 2026 for Westchester County, N.Y. — a high-income New York City suburb poised for a big SALT payoff — is $6,644. But just to the south, in the Bronx, the average tax cut is $1,761.
Reality check: The "big, beautiful" bill also made some steep cuts to social spending on food benefits and Medicaid, but those mostly don't kick in until 2027 and 2028.
- For many lower-income Americans, those cuts will outweigh any benefits of these tax breaks.