Bath County, Virginia Tax Rates

Bath County Tax Rates - At a Glance

Bath County Tax Rates Summary (rates from the Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 Local Tax Rates survey; due dates confirmed on the county Commissioner of the Revenue's page)

Tax Type	County Rate (per $100)	Notes
Real Estate	$0.60	100% fair market value. Two installments due June 5 and December 5.
Personal Property (vehicles)	$0.55	Tangible personal property including vehicles - one of Virginia's lowest rates. Due December 5.
Machinery & Tools	$0.55	Business machinery and tools - same rate as personal property.
Merchants' Capital	Not levied	Bath County does not levy a merchants' capital tax ($0.000).
Sales Tax	5.3% (4.3% state + 1.0% local) - no regional district

The real estate ($0.60), tangible personal property ($0.55), machinery and tools ($0.55), and merchants' capital ($0.000) rates are from the Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 Local Tax Rates survey - the canonical statewide source. The June 5 and December 5 real estate installments, the December 5 personal property due date, and the May 1 personal property filing and tax relief deadlines are confirmed on the Bath County Commissioner of the Revenue's page. The PPTRA relief percentage, any separately set motor-vehicle rate, the late-payment penalty and interest, the reassessment cycle, and the elderly and disabled relief income and net-worth thresholds are pending direct confirmation - see Official Sources below.

Vehicle Personal Property (Car) Tax

Rate and Classification

Bath County taxes tangible personal property, including motor vehicles, at just $0.55 per $100 of assessed value, per the Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 survey. That is one of the lowest personal property (car) tax rates of any jurisdiction in Virginia, where most counties fall between $2 and $4 per $100. Virginia localities generally assess vehicles at their National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) value as of January 1 each year. The same $0.55 rate applies to business machinery and tools.

Due Date and Filing

Personal property tax is due December 5. The deadline to file personal property with the Commissioner of the Revenue is May 1. Payments are made to the Bath County Treasurer, who can be reached at (540) 839-7221. The exact late-payment penalty and interest are pending direct confirmation.

PPTRA Relief

Qualifying personal-use vehicles receive Virginia's Personal Property Tax Relief (PPTRA) credit under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3524 on the first $20,000 of value. The Commissioner of the Revenue administers PPTRA relief locally; the specific current-year relief percentage is pending direct confirmation with the Commissioner of the Revenue.

Source: Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 Local Tax Rates survey (personal property $0.55) and Bath County Commissioner of the Revenue pages (bathcountyva.gov), verified August 2026. For a deeper explanation of PPTRA, see our Virginia PPTRA explained guide. The PPTRA percentage, any separately set motor-vehicle rate, the vehicle license fee, and the exact late-payment penalty and interest are pending direct confirmation.

Real Estate Tax

Rate and Assessment

Bath County's real estate tax rate is $0.60 per $100 of assessed value, per the Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 survey. Real estate is taxed at 100% of fair market value as the Virginia Constitution requires. On a $400,000 home, the county real estate tax works out to about $2,400 per year at this rate. The Board of Supervisors sets the rate each spring during the budget process; the county's general reassessment cycle is pending direct confirmation.

Due Date and Payment

Real estate tax is billed in two installments due June 5 and December 5. Payments are made to the Bath County Treasurer, whose office is at 65 Courthouse Hill Road in Warm Springs; the Treasurer can be reached at (540) 839-7221. The late-payment penalty and interest are pending direct confirmation.

Exemptions and Relief Programs

Bath County administers real estate tax relief for the elderly and disabled and a land use taxation program for qualifying agricultural and forestal land, both with a May 1 application/revalidation deadline, along with the state PPTRA program through the Commissioner of the Revenue's office. Under Virginia Code § 58.1-3219.5, a veteran rated 100% service-connected permanently and totally disabled is exempt from real estate tax on a principal residence, a benefit that extends to a qualifying surviving spouse. The income and net-worth thresholds for the local elderly and disabled program are pending direct confirmation.

Source: Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 survey (real estate $0.60) and Bath County Commissioner of the Revenue pages (bathcountyva.gov), verified August 2026. The elderly and disabled relief thresholds and the reassessment cycle are pending direct confirmation with the Commissioner of the Revenue.

Business Equipment, Machinery, and Tools

Bath County levies a machinery and tools tax of $0.55 per $100, the same rate as tangible personal property, per the Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 survey. The county does not levy a merchants' capital tax (the Department of Taxation survey reports a $0.000 merchants' capital rate). The business personal property filing deadline is May 1 with the Commissioner of the Revenue.

Source: Virginia Department of Taxation TY2025 Local Tax Rates survey; machinery and tools ($0.55) and the absence of a merchants' capital levy confirmed in Table 1 for Bath County.

Sales Tax

Rate and Composition

The combined sales tax rate in Bath County is 5.3%: the 4.3% Virginia state rate plus the 1.0% standard local rate. Bath County is not part of any regional sales tax district, per the Virginia Department of Taxation, so it sits in the statewide baseline tier along with its western Virginia neighbors.

Bath County Sales Tax Rate Breakdown

Component	Rate
Virginia state rate	4.3%
Standard local rate	1.0%
Regional district	None
Combined rate	5.3%

Qualifying food and grocery items are subject to Virginia's reduced 1.0% rate.

Source: Virginia Department of Taxation - Retail Sales and Use Tax (tax.virginia.gov)

Bath County and the Warm Springs Highlands

Bath County sits along the West Virginia border in the mountains of far western Virginia, one of the least populous counties in the Commonwealth with roughly 4,100 residents and no traffic light. Much of the county lies within the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, and its economy is anchored by The Omni Homestead Resort at Hot Springs - a historic mineral-springs resort - along with the warm-springs pools, Douthat State Park, Lake Moomaw, and the Garth Newel Music Center. The county seat is Warm Springs, and the county has no incorporated towns. Bath borders Highland County to the north, Augusta County to the east, Rockbridge County to the southeast, and Alleghany County to the south.

How Bath County Compares Across Virginia

Bath County's $0.60 real estate rate sits below the Virginia statewide median of roughly $0.70. Its standout figure is the $0.55 personal property (vehicle) rate, which is among the very lowest in Virginia - most counties tax vehicles at $2 to $4 per $100. See the full Virginia property tax comparison and car tax comparison for exact rankings.