Isle of Wight County, Virginia Tax Rates

Isle of Wight County Tax Rates - At a Glance

Isle of Wight County Current Tax Rates Summary

Tax Type	County Rate (per $100)	Notes
Real Estate (TY2025 per DOT)	$0.730	Assessed at 100% fair market value; +$0.160 inside Smithfield, +$0.150 inside Windsor
Tangible Personal Property (general)	$4.500	DOT general TPP rate; the personal use vehicle rate may differ - confirm with the Commissioner of the Revenue
Machinery and Tools	$1.950	County levy (TY2025 per DOT)
Merchants' Capital	$0.000	Isle of Wight uses Business TPP instead, under § 58.1-3508.1
Sales Tax	6.0% (4.3% state + 1.0% local + 0.7% Hampton Roads regional; qualifying groceries 1.0%)

Real estate, tangible personal property, Machinery and Tools, and Merchants' Capital rates are from the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey tax year 2025 (pdfplumber extraction direct from the official PDF). The Isle of Wight County official tax pages (isleofwight.gov) returned HTTP 403 from the server and could not be directly extracted; the Commissioner of the Revenue contact information was verified via the official Aumentum Technologies Public Access portal (va-isleofwight.publicaccessnow.com) which is linked from and to isleofwight.gov.

Vehicle Personal Property (Car) Tax

Rate and Classification

For tax year 2025, the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey lists Isle of Wight County's general tangible personal property rate at $4.500 per $100 of assessed value. Virginia counties may classify motor vehicles separately and adopt a different rate for personal use vehicles under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3506. The DOT survey itself notes that the published general TPP rate may not be the same as the rate applied to personal use vehicles, and the Isle of Wight County official tax pages (isleofwight.gov) were not directly reachable at the time this page was prepared (HTTP 403 from the county's web server). Confirm the current personal use vehicle rate with the Isle of Wight County Commissioner of the Revenue at 757-365-6219.

PPTRA Relief

Qualifying personal use vehicles receive Virginia's Personal Property Tax Relief (PPTRA) on the first $20,000 of assessed value under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3524. The annual relief percentage is set each spring by the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors during the budget cycle; the current percentage is not republished here because the county tax pages were not directly reachable. Contact the Commissioner of the Revenue for the current-year percentage and for any locally adopted personal-use vehicle rate.

Source: Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey tax year 2025 (pdfplumber extraction). For a deeper explanation of PPTRA, see our Virginia PPTRA explained guide.

Real Estate Tax

Rate and Assessment

Isle of Wight County's real estate tax rate was $0.730 per $100 of assessed value for tax year 2025 per the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey. The rate is adopted annually by the Board of Supervisors with the budget. All real estate in Virginia is assessed at 100% of fair market value under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3201; Isle of Wight contracts a regular general reassessment.

Town Overlays

Isle of Wight County has two incorporated towns - Smithfield and Windsor. Each town adopts its own tax rates that apply in addition to the county rate. Per the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey tax year 2025:

Isle of Wight County Town Overlays (TY2025 per DOT Table 3, per $100)

Town	Real Estate Overlay	Tangible Personal Property Overlay	Machinery and Tools Overlay	Merchants' Capital Overlay
Town of Smithfield	+$0.160	+$1.000	+$0.375	$0.000
Town of Windsor	+$0.150	+$0.500	+$0.250	+$0.500

A real estate parcel inside the Town of Smithfield therefore pays a combined $0.890 per $100 (county $0.730 + town $0.160), and inside the Town of Windsor a combined $0.880 per $100. Windsor's town levy of $0.500 on Merchants' Capital is unusual in Virginia - most jurisdictions levy $0.000 Merchants' Capital. Parcels outside both incorporated towns pay only the county rate.

Due Dates and Penalties

Isle of Wight County sets its own real estate and personal property due dates. The county's official tax pages (isleofwight.gov) were not directly reachable at the time this page was prepared (the county web server returned HTTP 403 to both static fetch and browser navigation), so specific due dates and penalty/interest percentages are not republished here. Virginia statute (Code of Virginia § 58.1-3916) authorizes a 10% penalty and additional interest on delinquent local taxes. Contact the Isle of Wight County Treasurer to confirm the current-year due dates.

Exemptions and Relief Programs

Isle of Wight County, like other Virginia localities, offers real estate tax relief for qualifying seniors and permanently and totally disabled residents, with income and asset limits set by the Board of Supervisors. Disabled veterans who are 100% service-connected disabled may qualify for a full real estate exemption on their primary residence under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3219.5, and a qualifying veteran's primary personal use vehicle may be exempt under Article X, Section 6-A(8) of the Constitution of Virginia. Contact the Commissioner of the Revenue for current eligibility thresholds and procedures.

Source: Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey tax year 2025 (pdfplumber extraction). Direct confirmation of Isle of Wight County due dates and penalty/interest percentages pending - the county's official tax pages were not reachable for static or browser extraction on 2026-05-30.

Machinery, Tools, and Merchants' Capital

Isle of Wight County levies a Machinery and Tools tax of $1.950 per $100 of assessed value for tax year 2025 per Virginia DOT. The county levies no Merchants' Capital tax ($0.000): like most Virginia counties, Isle of Wight substituted a Business Tangible Personal Property tax for the older Merchants' Capital tax under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3508.1. Businesses operating inside the Town of Smithfield or the Town of Windsor are also subject to the relevant town overlay - notably the Town of Windsor's $0.500 per $100 Merchants' Capital levy.

Source: Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey TY2025 Table 1 (county) and Table 3 (town overlays).

Sales Tax

Rate and Composition

The combined sales tax rate in Isle of Wight County is 6.0%. Isle of Wight is part of the Hampton Roads regional transportation district, which carries an additional 0.7% regional levy on top of the standard 5.3% Virginia rate.

Isle of Wight County Sales Tax Rate Breakdown

Component	Rate
Virginia state rate	4.3%
Local rate	1.0%
Hampton Roads regional transportation district	0.7%
Combined rate	6.0%

Qualifying food and grocery items are subject to Virginia's reduced 1.0% rate. Virginia Tax lists Isle of Wight in the Hampton Roads district with Chesapeake, Franklin City, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Southampton, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. By contrast, the neighboring Historic Triangle (James City County, Williamsburg, York County) carries a 7.0% rate.

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

Geography and Context: Hampton Roads South of the James

Isle of Wight County sits on the south side of the James River in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, between the cities of Suffolk and Newport News (across the James). The county was formed in 1634 as one of Virginia's eight original shires and was originally called Warrosquyoake; the present name comes from the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England. The county seat is the unincorporated village of Isle of Wight Court House, near the geographic center; the two incorporated municipalities are the Town of Smithfield and the Town of Windsor.

Smithfield is internationally known as the home of Smithfield Foods Inc, the world's largest pork producer, and as the trademark home of "Genuine Smithfield Ham" - the dry-cured ham legally required to be cured within the town limits under a 1926 Virginia statute (later repealed and re-enacted with broader boundaries). The town's Historic District features Federal-period architecture and the 1750 Isle of Wight County Courthouse. Windsor, in the southwestern part of the county along U.S. Route 460, is a smaller agricultural town.

Disambiguation: Isle of Wight County, Virginia is a distinct Hampton Roads county. It should not be confused with the Isle of Wight in England, the Isle of Wight in the Chesapeake region of Maryland, or Wight County (no such county exists). Within Virginia, Isle of Wight is one of the original 1634 shires; the county seat is unincorporated and is also called "Isle of Wight" or "Isle of Wight Court House".

Adjacent jurisdictions: Suffolk (live; south, Hampton Roads), Newport News (live; north, across the James River via the James River Bridge), James City County and Williamsburg (live; north, across the James in the Historic Triangle), and unbuilt Surry County (west) and Southampton County (south).

Hampton Roads Cluster Context

Isle of Wight is the southwestern anchor of the live Hampton Roads cluster on CountyTaxTools, which includes Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, plus the adjacent Williamsburg, James City County, York County, and Gloucester County. Isle of Wight's $0.730 real estate rate is comparable to the live Suffolk and Chesapeake rates, and its 6.0% sales tax matches the Hampton Roads regional district. The standout feature is the Town of Smithfield's strong town overlay (RE +$0.160 / TPP +$1.000) reflecting the higher service costs of the historic district and the Smithfield Foods industrial corridor.