Self-employment and imputed income in Virginia child support (2026)

How is self-employment income counted for child support in Virginia?

Virginia starts from gross income, from all sources (Code of Virginia § 20-108.2 C). For a parent with income from self-employment, a partnership or a closely held business, the statute allows two deductions:

1. Reasonable business expenses. The parent claiming them has the burden of proving them by a preponderance of the evidence.
2. Half of any self-employment tax paid.

The court’s guideline worksheet takes both on the same line (form DC-637, line 4). The calculator does not have a field for business expenses or self-employment tax: the income entered for a self-employed parent is used as it is, so it should already be net of the deductions above for the result to follow the statute.

How is rental income counted?

Gross rental income from property a parent owns, alone, jointly or through an entity, is reduced by reasonable expenses. The deduction does not include the cost of acquiring the property, depreciation, or the principal part of any mortgage payment (§ 20-108.2 C). The parent claiming the expenses has to prove them.

What is imputed income?

Imputed income is income a court attributes to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or voluntarily underemployed, so that support is based on what the parent could earn. It is one of the factors in § 20-108.1 B that allow a court to depart from the guideline, so the court must make written findings stating the guideline amount and why it varies.

The effect can be large. One family, before and after a court attributes $6,000 a month to the other parent, who earns $3,000:

Income used for the other parent	Guideline a month
Actual: $3,000	$461.14
Imputed: $6,000	$750.60

Imputation can apply to either parent. A higher income attributed to the parent the children live with lowers the other parent’s share.

When can a Virginia court impute income?

Section 20-108.1 B 3 allows it for a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or voluntarily underemployed, with three limits:

• Young children and child care. Income may not be imputed to the parent the children live with when a child is not in school, child care services are not available, and the cost of child care is not included in the calculation.
• Job changes. Imputing income because a parent changed jobs is judged on the good faith and reasonableness of the decision, including a decision to attend and complete an education or training program likely to keep or raise the parent’s earning potential.
• Incarceration. Being incarcerated for 180 or more consecutive days is not voluntary unemployment. It is also a material change on which a modification may be based.

When earning capacity is disputed, the court may, on a motion and for good cause, order a parent to undergo a vocational evaluation by an expert, and may award its costs (§ 20-108.1 H).

How does the Division of Child Support Enforcement impute income?

In cases the Division of Child Support Enforcement sets without a court, its regulation (22VAC40-880-240) says:

• a parent is voluntarily unemployed when the parent quits a job without good cause or is fired for cause;
• income is imputed when a parent is voluntarily unemployed or does not provide financial information when asked;
• the current or last available monthly income is used if it represents what the parent could earn;
• otherwise, imputation considers the parent’s specific circumstances to the extent known: assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, education, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other barriers to work, record of seeking work, the local job market, employers willing to hire, and prevailing local earnings.

What changes to imputation have been proposed?

In its December 2025 report, Virginia’s Child Support Guidelines Review Panel recommended amending § 20-108.1 B 3 to require that a parent’s specific circumstances be considered when imputing income, including the factors in the federal rule, and to presume a 35-hour work week when imputing income. As of 2 November 2026, § 20-108.1 had not been amended since 2022, so the recommendation is not law.

What this guide does not cover

This guide does not cover how courts value a business, which expenses courts accept as reasonable, or how a particular court weighs evidence of earning capacity. The engine also leaves out these parts of Virginia’s guideline:

• Half of any self-employment tax paid is also deducted from income (not modeled).
• Reasonable and necessary unreimbursed medical and dental costs are shared in proportion to gross income as they are incurred, outside the monthly amount (§ 20-108.2 D, not modeled).
• Deductions for other children are not modeled: support paid for other children under an order or written agreement, and the schedule amount for a parent's own children living with that parent (§ 20-108.2 C).
• Disability benefits paid to the children from a parent's entitlement count as that parent's income and are credited against support (§ 20-108.2 C); not modeled.
• Low income is not modeled beyond the minimum: when the paying parent's gross income is at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, a court may set less than the statutory minimum, and the minimum does not apply to some parents (for example those imprisoned for life or totally and permanently disabled) (§ 20-108.2 B). Shared custody support is not presumed correct when either parent's income is that low (G 3 (d)).
• Days are counted as whole days; the half-day rule for an overnight of less than 24 hours (§ 20-108.2 G 3 (c)) is not modeled.
• Split custody, different schedules for different children, and mixes of sole, split and shared custody (§ 20-108.2 G 2, 4 to 6) are not modeled.

The figures are estimates of the guideline amount, not legal advice. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.