If you earn a W-2 in cleared-tech, AWS GovCloud, Microsoft Federal, Palantir, or anywhere in the Tysons / Reston / McLean tech corridor, you face federal 37% + NIIT 3.8% + VA 5.75% = ~46.5% combined — the same NoVA bracket as Arlington but with a notably different employer profile.
- $165,000 Accelerated Depreciation (typical STR worked example)
- $77,000 Est. Year-1 Tax Savings (federal + NIIT + VA)
- 97x Return on Study Cost
Want a number for your specific situation? Use the calculator — preset for property-type defaults you can adjust to your basis and bracket.
The Tysons / Reston tech corridor profile
Tysons + Reston is distinct from Arlington within NoVA — heavier tech-contractor and cleared-tech concentration, less defense-prime-heavy, more equity-based comp:
- Cleared tech and gov-tech (Palantir Tysons, AWS GovCloud Herndon, Microsoft Federal Reston, Anduril DC, ID.me Tysons) — $300K–$1.2M+ with equity
- Senior cloud and SaaS (Salesforce Government Cloud, Snowflake Federal, Databricks Federal, MongoDB Atlas Federal) — $400K–$1M+ with RSU
- CapTech, Booz Allen, Accenture Federal senior consulting (overlap with Arlington, but more concentrated in Tysons/Reston for the tech-services practices) — $300K–$900K + bonus
- Tech-prime engineering executives (Northrop Grumman senior tech, Lockheed Martin senior systems engineering) — $300K–$1.2M with equity
The combined marginal-rate stack:
- Federal: 37%
- NIIT: 3.8%
- Virginia: 5.75% (top rate)
- Combined: ~46.5%
The 5 percentage point gap vs DC residents is a meaningful structural advantage for Tysons buyers — over a 10+ year hold + 100% bonus depreciation Year-1 deduction window, the gap compounds.
Verify with your CPA — combined-rate math depends on filing status, AGI thresholds for NIIT, and the actual VA bracket your income lands in.
Why cost seg pays more if you live in the Tysons corridor
A typical $500K–$1.2M out-of-state STR reclassifies 24–32% of basis under permanent 100% bonus depreciation. At the NoVA combined bracket (~46.5%), every $1 of accelerated depreciation is worth ~$0.465 in Year-1 cash savings.
The Tysons corridor advantage vs Arlington: more equity-based comp (Palantir RSU, AWS RSU, Microsoft Federal RSU) means cost-seg deductions can be timed against vesting cliffs. The equity-vesting timing strategy that Palo Alto and Bellevue use applies in Tysons/Reston for the cleared-tech equity-comp employee.
Where Tysons-corridor investors are buying
Tysons / Reston investors flow capital to STR markets within a 1-3 hour drive or short flight:
- Outer Banks, NC — Atlantic coastal STR, 5-hour drive market.
- 30A / Destin, FL — Florida 0% state tax, premium beachfront, direct IAD/DCA flights.
- Smoky Mountains (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg) — Tennessee 0% state tax, cabin STR.
- Charleston, SC — Historic walkable, strong year-round ADR.
- Asheville, NC — Blue Ridge mountain market.
The Tysons → 30A pipeline is the most visible — Florida 0% state tax + premium beachfront + direct IAD flights aligns with cleared-tech equity-vesting investors who want a vacation property to deploy RSU cashout against.
A real Tysons investor’s worked example
A Palantir Tysons senior engineering principal earning $385K base + $200K RSU vesting + $75K bonus, residing in McLean (spouse non-W-2, part-time managing a small consulting practice), buys a 3BR 30A condo for $725K with $25K immediate FF&E. After $175K in land, the $550K adjusted basis includes $66K in 5-year assets (appliances, smart-home, theater equipment, beach package, decorative lighting), $25K in 7-year assets (custom furniture, beach-themed built-ins), and $74K in 15-year property (pool deck, hardscaping, fencing, beach-access lighting).
That’s $165K reclassified into accelerated depreciation in Year 1. At the NoVA combined bracket (~46.5%), federal + state savings come to roughly $77,000. If the spouse claims REPS (feasible at part-time consulting + property management hours), the deduction can offset the principal’s full W-2 income — not just Reg. §1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii) STR-active income.
What disqualifies a Tysons-corridor investor
REPS is structurally impossible for a full-time cleared-tech principal or senior engineer — the 750-hour + >50% test conflicts with cleared-work hours and on-call rotations. If both spouses work full-W-2 jobs, only the STR exception works (7-day average + 100-hour material participation).
NoVA’s dual-income households where one spouse is at home or part-time have a meaningfully better REPS-feasibility profile than NYC or Bay Area equivalent investors. The Tysons corridor’s higher concentration of dual-tech-career couples (vs. dual-finance NYC) makes REPS qualification more nuanced — confirm with your CPA whether either spouse can credibly claim the test.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Tysons different from Arlington for cost-seg purposes? Tax-wise, identical — both pay VA 5.75% (combined ~46.5%). Where they differ: Arlington skews defense-prime + consulting + DC-overflow; Tysons / Reston skews cleared-tech and SaaS federal with more equity-vesting comp. The cost-seg strategy is broadly similar but Tysons investors have more RSU-timing leverage.
Does VA conform to federal bonus depreciation? Virginia generally conforms to federal MACRS but requires modifications on certain accelerated depreciation provisions historically. Confirm with your CPA whether the VA portion of your Year-1 savings is fully realized or partially deferred.
Are there cleared-investor restrictions on cost-seg studies? No — cost segregation is a depreciation classification, not a financial holding. Standard SF-86 disclosure covers property ownership directly. The cost-seg study itself doesn’t create a reportable financial relationship.
Learn More About Cost Segregation
- What Is Cost Segregation?
- STR Tax Exception Explained
- Cost Segregation in Arlington — Adjacent NoVA investor page
- Cost Segregation in Washington, DC — DC-resident investor page