I just came across this. As I am NOT a “tax professional” I’ll explain this as best I understand it in (hopefully) plain English.
If you live in Virginia, pay income taxes, and bought or plan on buying some sort of gun safety device – such as a trigger lock or a gun safe, you could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $300. Okay, so details…
Let’s start with the “UP TO” part. The legislature has capped the total amount of credits allowed at $5 million dollars, meaning if all the taxpayers apply for credits totaling $10 million dollars – you’d get half of the $300, or $150 assuming you originally qualified for the full $300.
How do you qualify for the full $300? Spend at least $300 on gun safety devices. This can be one or more. If you file jointly, the other taxpayer can also qualify for a credit but for a separate purchase. In other words you cannot, apparently, both buy, say a $1000 gun safe, and get $600 knocked off your tax bill. That’s the other thing.
You won’t get a dime if you don’t own the commonwealth income tax.
Now when I came across this, it specified the year 2023 so if you didn’t buy something last year, too bad – right? Think again. I had to dig a bit but according to the Code of Virginia this tax credit will be available up to and including the tax year 2027. (It ends Jan 1, 2028 so I’m guessing it won’t apply for the 2028 tax year.)
If you’ve looked into this at all, you know this stuff can run into quite a bit
of money. Even if you can’t spring for that 21 gun safe you’ve been drooling over this year, any trigger locks, smaller handgun safes for your home and car, etc. all qualifies and they add up. Save your receipts. Hand them all over to your tax pro. You can print out the pages from the links above if you like or just bookmark this post.
All said, I highly recommend purchasing as much gun safe as you can afford. Even in this rural area, houses have been burglarized. Not only that but all the time I hear that lots of thefts of guns left in automobiles are reported every year. Even a cheaper safe can prevent a thief from stealing your weapon as thieves are typically lazy critters who prefer easy targets with no work involved. seeing your safe attached to something solid by a thick cable is likely to thwart their “efforts”. Worst case, you can at least demonstrate to the insurance company that you made efforts to prevent the theft.
Note and disclaimer here: all safes pictured here are from Dean Safe in CA of all places. These links are NOT affiliated links and I receive NOTHING for linking to them here. It is for your convenience only and while I do believe Dean Safe to be a good company offering decent products, I have no basis from which to endorse any of their products.