Except as may be otherwise provided by the laws
of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and notwithstanding any other current
ordinances or resolutions enacted by the Elkton Town Council, whether
or not compiled in the Code of the Town of Elkton, to the extent of
any conflict, the following provisions shall be applicable to the
levy, assessment, and collection of licenses required and taxes imposed
on businesses, trades, professions and callings and upon the persons,
firms and corporations engaged therein within this locality.
For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise
required by the context:
AFFILIATED GROUP
A.
One odr more chains of includible corporations
connected through stock ownership with a common parent corporation
which is an includible corporation if:
(1)
Stock possessing at least 80% of the voting
power of all classes of stock and at least 80% of each class of the
nonvoting stock of each of the includible corporations, except the
common parent corporation, is owned directly by one or more of the
other includible corporations; and
(2)
The common parent corporation directly owns
stock possessing at least 80% of the voting power of all classes of
stock and at least 80% of each class of the nonvoting stock of at
least one of the other includible corporations. As used in this subsection,
the term "stock" does not include nonvoting stock which is limited
and preferred as to dividends. The term "includible corporation" means
any corporation within the affiliated group irrespective of the state
or country of its incorporation; and the term "receipts" includes
gross receipts and gross income.
B.
Two or more corporations if five or fewer persons
who are individuals, estates or trusts own stock possessing:
(1)
At least 80% of the total combined voting power
of all classes of stock entitled to vote or at least 80% of the total
value of shares of all classes of the stock of each corporation, and
(2)
More than 50% of the total combined voting power
of all classes of stock entitled to vote or more than 50% of the total
value of shares of all classes of stock of each corporation, taking
into account the stock ownership of each such person only to the extent
such stock ownership is identical with respect to each such corporation.
When one or more of the includible corporations,
including the common parent corporation, is a nonstock corporation,
the term "stock" as used in this subdivision shall refer to the nonstock
corporation membership or membership voting rights, as is appropriate
to the context.
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ASSESSMENT
A determination as to the proper rate of tax, the measure
to which the tax rate is applied, and ultimately the amount of tax,
including additional or omitted tax, that is due. An assessment shall
include a written assessment made pursuant to notice by the assessing
official or a self-assessment made by a taxpayer upon the filing of
a return or otherwise not pursuant to notice. Assessments shall be
deemed made by an assessing official when a written notice of assessment
is delivered to the taxpayer by the assessing official or an employee
of the assessing official, or mailed to the taxpayer at his or her
last known address. Self-assessments shall be deemed made when a return
is filed, or if no return is required, when the tax is paid. A return
filed or tax paid before the last day prescribed by ordinance for
the filing or payment thereof shall be deemed to be filed or paid
on the last day specified for the filing of a return or the payment
of tax, as the case may be.
ASSESSOR
The Treasurer of the Town of Elkton.
BASE YEAR
The calendar year preceding the license year, except for
contractors subject to the provisions of § 58.1-3715 of
the Code of Virginia.
BUSINESS
A course of dealing which requires the time, attention and
labor of the person so engaged for the purpose of earning a livelihood
or profit. It implies a continuous and regular course of dealing,
rather than an irregular or isolated transaction. A person may be
engaged in more than one business. The following acts shall create
a rebuttable presumption that a person is engaged in a business:
A.
Advertising or otherwise holding oneself out
to the public as being engaged in a particular business; or
B.
Filing tax returns, schedules and documents
that are required only of persons engaged in a trade or business.
CONTRACTOR
The meaning prescribed in § 58.1-3714B of the Code
of Virginia, as amended, whether such work is done or offered to be
done by day labor, general contractor or subcontractor.
DEFINITE PLACE OF BUSINESS
An office or a location at which occurs a regular and continuous
course of dealing for 30 consecutive days or more. A definite place
of business for a person engaged in business may include a location
leased or otherwise obtained from another person on a temporary or
seasonal basis; and real property leased to another. A person's residence
shall be deemed to be a definite place of business if there is no
definite place of business maintained elsewhere and the person is
not licensable as a peddler or itinerant merchant.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
The service for compensation by a credit agency, an investment
company, a broker or dealer in securities and commodities or a security
or commodity exchange, unless such service is otherwise provided for
in this article.
A.
BROKERAn agent of a buyer or a seller who buys or sells stocks, bonds, commodities, or services, usually on a commission basis.
B.
COMMODITYStaples such as wool, cotton, etc. which are traded on a commodity exchange and on which there is trading in futures.
C.
DEALERAny person engaged in the business of buying and selling securities for his or her own account, but does not include a bank, or any person insofar as he or she buys or sells securities for his or her own account, either individually or in some fiduciary capacity, but not as part of a regular business.
D.
SECURITYFor purposes of this article shall have the same meaning as in the Securities Act (§ 13.1-501 et seq.) of the Code of Virginia, or in similar laws of the United States regulating the sale of securities.
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Those engaged in rendering financial services
include, but without limitation, the following:
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Buying installment receivables
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Chattel mortgage financing
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Consumer financing
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Credit card services
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Credit Unions
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Factors
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Financing accounts receivable
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Industrial loan companies
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Installment financing
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Inventory financing
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Loan or mortgage brokers
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Loan or mortgage companies
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Safety deposit box companies
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Security and commodity brokers and services
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Stockbroker
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Working capital financing
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GROSS RECEIPTS
The whole, entire, total receipts attributable to the licensed privilege, without deduction, except as may be limited by the provisions of Chapter
37 of Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia.
LICENSE YEAR
The calendar year for which a license is issued for the privilege
of engaging in business.
PERSONAL SERVICES
Rendering for compensation any repair, personal, business
or other services not specifically classified as "financial, real
estate or professional service" under this article, or rendered in
any other business or occupation not specifically classified in this
article unless exempted from local license tax by Title 58.1 of the
Code of Virginia.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Rendering any service specifically enumerated below or engaged
in any occupation or vocation in which a professed knowledge of some
department of science or learning, gained by a prolonged course of
specialized instruction and study, is used by its practical application
to the affairs of others, either advising, guiding, or teaching them,
and in serving their interests or welfare in the practice of an art
or science founded on it. The words "profession" and "professional"
imply attainments in professional knowledge as distinguished from
mere skill, and the application of knowledge to uses for others as
a vocation, and including, but without limitation, such attainments
attributed to the following:
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Architects
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Attorneys-at-law
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Certified public accountants
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Dentists
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Engineers
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Land surveyors
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Practitioners of the healing arts (the art or
science or group of arts or sciences dealing with the prevention,
diagnosis, treatment and cure or alleviation of human physical or
mental ailments, conditions, diseases, pain or infirmities)
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Surgeons
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Veterinarians
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PURCHASES
All goods, wares and merchandise received or offered for
sale at each definite place of business of every wholesaler or wholesale
merchant, and shall not be construed to exclude any goods, wares or
merchandise otherwise coming within the meaning of such word, including
such goods, wares and merchandise manufactured by a wholesaler or
wholesale merchant and sold or offered for sale as merchandise.
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
Rendering a service for compensation as lessor, buyer, seller,
agent or broker and providing a real estate service, unless the service
is otherwise specifically provided for in this article, and such services
include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Appraisers of real estate
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Escrow agents, real estate
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Fiduciaries, real estate
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Lessors of real property
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Real estate agents, brokers and managers
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Real estate selling agents
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Rental agents for real estate
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RETAILER OR RETAIL MERCHANT
Any person or merchant who sells goods, wares and merchandise
for use or consumption by the purchaser or for any purpose other than
resale by the purchaser, but does not include sales at wholesale to
institutional, commercial and industrial users.
SERVICES
Things purchased by a customer which do not have physical
characteristics, or which are not goods, wares, or merchandise.
WHOLESALER OR WHOLESALE MERCHANT
Any person or merchant who sells wares and merchandise for
resale by the purchaser, including sales when the goods, wares and
merchandise will be incorporated into goods and services for sale,
and also includes sales to institutional, commercial and industrial
users which because of the quantity, price, or other terms indicate
that they are consistent with sales at wholesale.
Except as may be specifically otherwise provided
by ordinance or other law, the annual license tax imposed hereunder
shall be $30, or the rate set forth below for the class of enterprise
listed, whichever is greater:
A. For contractors and persons constructing for their
own account for sale: $0.08 per $100 of gross receipts.
B. For retailers: $0.10 per $100 of gross receipts.
C. For financial, real estate and professional services:
$0.29 per $100 of gross receipts.
D. For repair, personal and business services and all
other businesses and occupations not specifically listed or exempted
in this article or otherwise by law: $0.18 per $100 of gross receipts.
E. For wholesalers: $0.05 per $100 of purchases.
F. For carnivals, circuses and speedways: $100 for each
performance held in the Town of Elkton.
G. For fortune tellers, clairvoyants and practitioners
of palmistry: $1,000 per year.
H. For massage parlors: $30 per year for the first $15,000
of gross receipts; receipts in excess of $15,000 will be $0.20 per
$100 of gross receipts.
I. For itinerant merchants or peddlers: $30 per year.
J. For dealers in precious metals: $200 per year.
K. For permanent coliseums, arenas or auditoriums having
a maximum capacity in excess of 10,000 persons, open to the public:
$1,000 per year.
L. For savings and loan associations and credit unions:
$50 per year.
M. For direct sellers as defined in § 58.1-3719.1
of the Code of Virginia with total annual sales in excess of $4,000:
$0.20 per $100 of total annual retail sales or $0.05 per $100 of total
annual wholesale sales, whichever is applicable.
N. For every person engaging in short-term rentals as defined in Chapter
110, Land Development, Article
III, Definition of Terms, §
110-302, of this Code in the Town of Elkton: $0.29 per $100 of gross receipts.
[Added 9-17-2018; amended 6-17-2019]
A pawnbroker, as defined in Chapter
40 of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia, seeking to conduct such business within the town, shall first petition the Rockingham County Circuit Court to authorize the Town to issue to such individual a license to engage in the business of a pawnbroker within the town. Any expenses and charges of such Circuit Court proceeding shall be paid by the petitioner and not the town. Upon authorization by the Circuit Court, the individual shall submit such information to the Town as the Treasurer may reasonably request. Upon payment of the required license tax, the Treasurer shall issue a license authorizing the individual to engage in the business of a pawnbroker for the calendar year of issuance. Licenses for succeeding years may be issued by the Treasurer upon payment of the license tax. The license tax shall be in the amount of $100.
The auctioneers license issued pursuant to §
148-21D shall not be used by any person other than the one to whom it is issued, and if any auctioneer allows the license to be used by any other person, it shall be automatically revoked.
Any exhibit, performance or exhibition for which a license is required by §
148-21F may be exempted from the license tax imposed if such performance or exhibition is sponsored by a church, school, charitable institution, association of war veterans, or a nonprofit community service organization.
Nothing in §
148-21D shall apply to amateur photographers who expose, develop and finish their own work and who do not part with the same for compensation or receive any compensation for performing any of the processes of photography; nor to coin-operated photography machines; nor to photographers while in the course of their employment by newspapers, magazines or television stations.
[Added 12-18-2000]
In addition to any other license required by
this chapter, any individual going from one place of human habitation
to another offering an item other than newspapers and fresh farm products,
for sale, shall first obtain an annual permit from the Chief of Police
and pay a fee in the amount of $30. Said fee shall be remitted to
the Town Treasurer and paid into the general fund of the town; provided,
however, that when such activities are conducted on behalf of a nonprofit
charitable, civic or religious organization, no fee will be charged.
No individual shall be issued a permit who has been convicted of any
felony or other crime of moral turpitude in any jurisdiction. In the
event that the criminal record indicates a charge for any such crime,
it shall be the obligation of the applicant to provide clear and convincing
documentation or other evidence that the charge did not result in
conviction.
[Added 12-18-2000]
Every person furnishing heat, light and power
for domestic, commercial or industrial consumption in the Town shall
pay for the privilege an annual license tax equal to 1/2 of 1% of
the gross receipts, as hereinabove defined, of such business derived
from within the Town during the next preceding calendar or fiscal
year. This tax shall terminate on January 1, 2001.
It shall be an offense for any person to fail
to abide by this chapter, and any person found guilty thereof shall
be subject to a fine not to exceed $2,500 or imprisonment for a period
not to exceed 12 months, or both. Each day any violation of this chapter
shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.