[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Colonial Heights: Art. I, 12-10-1996 by Ord. No. 96-23.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Taxation — See Ch. 258.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided
for the repeal of former Ch. 186, Licenses, Article I, Business, Professional
and Occupational License Taxes, adopted 11-10-1981 by Ord. No. 81-46,
and provided an effective date of 1-1-1997.
[Adopted 12-10-1996 by Ord. No. 96-23]
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 Council of the City of Colonial
Heights, whether or not compiled in the Code of the City of Colonial
Heights (1993), as amended, 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 in the City of Colonial Heights.
For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise
required by the context, the following words and terms are defined
as follows:
One or more chains of includable corporations
connected through stock ownership with a common parent corporation
which is an includable corporation if 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 includable corporations,
except the common parent corporation, is owned directly by one or
more of the other includable corporations; and 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 includable corporations. As used
in this subsection, the term "stock" does not include nonvoting stock
which is limited and preferred as to dividends. The term "includable
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.
Two or more corporations if five or fewer persons
who are individuals, estates or trusts own stock possessing 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 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 includable corporations,
including the common parent corporation, is a nonstock corporation,
the term "stock" as used in this subsection shall refer to the nonstock
corporation membership or membership voting rights, as is appropriate
to the context.
The Commissioner of Revenue and, for the purposes of § 187-6 herein, the Commissioner of Revenue or Director of Finance of the City of Colonial Heights.
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 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.
The calendar year preceding the license year, except for
contractors subject to the provisions of the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3715.
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:
The meaning prescribed in § 58.1-3714.B of the
Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, whether such work is done or
offered to be done by day labor, general contract or subcontract.
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.
Any person who sells or offers for sale in person or by employees,
ice, wood, charcoal, meats, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, fish, oysters,
game, vegetables, fruits or other family supplies of a perishable
nature; or farm products grown or produced by them and not purchased
by them for sale.
[Added 12-13-2016 by Ord.
No. 16-24]
The buying, selling, handling, managing, investing and providing
of advice regarding money, credit, securities and other investments
and shall include 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.
"Broker" shall mean an agent of a buyer or a
seller who buys or sells stocks, bonds, commodities or services, usually
on a commission basis.
"Commodity" shall mean staples such as wool,
cotton, etc., which are traded on a commodity exchange and on which
there is trading in futures.
"Dealer," for purposes of this article, shall
mean any person engaged in the business of buying and selling securities
for his own account, but does not include a bank or any person insofar
as he buys or sells securities for his own account, either individually
or in some fiduciary capacity, but not as part of a regular business.
"Security," for purposes of this article, shall
have the same meaning as in the Securities Act (§ 13.1-501
et seq.,) of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, or in similar
laws of the United States regulating the sale of securities.
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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Stockbrokers.
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Working capital financing.
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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 (1950), as amended.
The calendar year for which a license is issued for the privilege
of engaging in business.
The rendering for compensation of 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 (1950), as amended.
Services performed by architects, attorneys at law, certified
public accountants, dentists, engineers, land surveyors, surgeons,
veterinarians and practitioners of the healing arts (the arts and
sciences dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure
or alleviation of human physical or mental ailments, conditions, diseases,
pain or infirmities) and such occupations, and no others, as the Virginia
Department of Taxation may list in the BPOL guidelines promulgated
pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3701. The Department
shall identify and list each 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 word "profession" implies
attainments in professional knowledge as distinguished from mere skill
and the application of knowledge to uses for others rather than for
personal profit.
All goods, wares and merchandise received for sale at each
definite place of business of a wholesale merchant. The term shall
also include the cost of manufacture of all goods, wares and merchandise
manufactured by any wholesaler or wholesale merchant and sold or offered
for sale. Such merchant may elect to report the gross receipts from
the sale of manufactured goods, wares and merchandise if it cannot
determine or chooses not to disclose the cost of manufacture.
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:
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.
Things purchased by a customer which do not have physical
characteristics or which are not goods, wares or merchandise.
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, government and
industrial users which, because of the quantity, price or other terms,
indicate that they are consistent with sales at wholesale.
A.
Every person engaging in the City in any business,
trade, profession, occupation or calling (collectively hereinafter,
"a business") as defined in this article, unless otherwise exempted
by law, shall apply for a license for each such business if:
[Amended 11-18-2009 by Ord. No. 09-18[1]]
(1)
Such person maintains a definite place of business
in the City;
(2)
Such person does not maintain a definite office anywhere
but does maintain an abode in the City, which abode for the purposes
of this article shall be deemed a definite place of business; or
(3)
There is no definite place of business but such person
operates amusement machines, is engaged as a peddler, an itinerant
merchant as defined in § 286-2 of this Code, a carnival or circus
as specified in the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3717, 3718
or 3728, respectively, or is a contractor subject to the Code of Virginia,
§ 58.1-3715 or is a public service corporation subject to
the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3731. An itinerant merchant
shall not be issued a license that is valid for more than 30 consecutive
days, and each itinerant merchant shall comply with the standards
specified in §§ 286-77 and 286-99 of this Code.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that it shall
be in full force and effect on and after 1-1-2010.
B.
A separate license shall be required for each definite
place of business. A person engaged in two or more businesses or professions
carried on at the same place of business may elect to obtain one license
for all such businesses and professions if all of the following criteria
are satisfied:
(1)
Each business or profession is licensable at the location
and has satisfied any requirements imposed by state law or other provisions
of the ordinances of the city.
(2)
All of the businesses or professions are subject to
the same tax rate or, if subject to different tax rates, the licensee
agrees to be taxed on all businesses and professions at the highest
rate.
(3)
The taxpayer agrees to supply such information as
the assessing official may require concerning the nature of the several
businesses and their gross receipts.
C.
Each person subject to a license tax shall apply for
a license prior to beginning business if he was not subject to licensing
in the City on or before January 1 of the license year or no later
than March 1 of the current license year if he had been issued a license
for the preceding license year. The application shall be on forms
prescribed by the assessing official.
D.
The tax shall be paid with the application in the
case of any license not based on gross receipts. If the tax is measured
by the gross receipts of the business, the tax shall be paid on or
before March 1.
E.
The assessing official may grant an extension of time,
not to exceed 90 days, in which to file an application for a license
for reasonable cause. The extension shall be conditioned upon the
timely payment of a reasonable estimate of the appropriate tax, subject
to adjustment to the correct tax at the end of the extension, together
with interest from the due date until the date paid and, if the estimate
submitted with the extension is found to be unreasonable under the
circumstances, a penalty of 10% of the portion paid after the due
date.
F.
A penalty of 10% of the tax may be imposed upon the
failure to file an application or the failure to pay the tax by the
appropriate due date. Only the late filing penalty shall be imposed
by the assessing official if both the application and payment are
late; however, both penalties may be assessed if the assessing official
determines that the taxpayer has a history of noncompliance. In the
case of an assessment of additional tax made by the assessing official,
if the application and, if applicable, the return were made in good
faith and the understatement of the tax was not due to any fraud,
reckless or intentional disregard of the law by the taxpayer, there
shall be no late payment penalty assessed with the additional tax.
If any assessment of tax by the assessing official is not paid within
30 days, the Director of Finance may impose a ten-percent-late-payment
penalty. The penalties shall not be imposed or, if imposed, shall
be abated by the official who assessed them if the failure to file
or pay was not the fault of the taxpayer. In order to demonstrate
lack of fault, the taxpayer must show that he acted responsibly and
that the failure was due to events beyond his control. For the purposes
of this section:
[Amended 6-14-2016 by Ord. No. 16-20]
(1)
"Acted responsibly" means that the taxpayer exercised
the level of reasonable care that a prudent person would exercise
under the circumstances in determining the filing obligations for
the business; and the taxpayer undertook significant steps to avoid
or mitigate the failure, such as requesting appropriate extensions
(where applicable), attempting to prevent a foreseeable impediment,
acting to remove an impediment once it occurred and promptly rectifying
a failure once the impediment was removed or the failure discovered.
(2)
"Events beyond the taxpayer's control" include, but
are not limited to, the unavailability of records due to fire or other
casualty; the unavoidable absence (e.g., due to death or serious illness)
of the person with the sole responsibility for tax compliance; or
the taxpayer's reasonable reliance in good faith upon erroneous written
information from the assessing official, who was aware of the relevant
facts relating to the taxpayer's business when he provided the erroneous
information.
G.
Interest shall be charged on the late payment of the
tax from the due date until the date paid without regard to fault
or other reason for the late payment. Whenever an assessment of additional
or omitted tax by the assessing official is found to be erroneous,
all interest and penalty charged and collected on the amount of the
assessment found to be erroneous shall be refunded, together with
interest on the refund from the date of payment or the due date, whichever
is later. Interest shall be paid on the refund of any tax paid under
this article from the date of payment or due date, whichever is later,
whether attributable to an amended return or other reason. Interest
on any refund shall be paid at the same rate charged under the Code
of Virginia, § 58.1-3916. No interest shall accrue on an
adjustment of estimated tax liability to actual liability at the conclusion
of a base year. No interest shall be paid on a refund or charged on
a late payment in the event of such adjustment, provided that the
refund or the late payment is made not more than 30 days from the
date of the payment that created the refund or the due date of the
tax, whichever is later.
H.
No business
license under this chapter shall be issued until the applicant has
produced satisfactory evidence that all delinquent business license,
personal property, meals, transient occupancy, severance and admissions
taxes owed by the business to the City have been paid.
[Added 4-13-2010 by Ord. No. 10-3]
A.
General rule. Whenever the tax imposed by this article
is measured by gross receipts, the gross receipts included in the
taxable measure shall be only those gross receipts attributed to the
exercise of a licensable privilege at a definite place of business
within the City. In the case of activities conducted outside of a
definite place of business, such as during a visit to a customer location,
the gross receipts shall be attributed to the definite place of business
from which such activities are initiated, directed or controlled.
The situs of gross receipts for different classifications of business
shall be attributed to one or more definite places of business or
offices as follows:
(1)
The gross receipts of a contractor shall be attributed
to the definite place of business at which his services are performed
or, if his services are not performed at any definite place of business,
then the definite place of business from which his services are directed
or controlled, unless the contractor is subject to the provisions
of the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3715.
(2)
The gross receipts of a retailer or wholesaler shall
be attributed to the definite place of business at which sales solicitation
activities occur or, if sales solicitation activities do not occur
at any definite place of business, then the definite place of business
from which sales solicitation activities are directed or controlled;
however, a wholesaler or distribution house subject to a license tax
measured by purchases shall determine the situs of its purchases by
the definite place of business at which or from which deliveries of
the purchased goods, wares and merchandise are made to customers.
Any wholesaler who is subject to license tax in two or more localities
and who is subject to multiple taxation because the localities use
different measures may apply to the Department of Taxation for a determination
as to the proper measure of purchases and gross receipts subject to
license tax in each locality.
(3)
The gross receipts of a business renting tangible
personal property shall be attributed to the definite place of business
from which the tangible personal property is rented or, if the property
is not rented from any definite place of business, then the definite
place of business at which the rental of such property is managed.
(4)
The gross receipts from the performance of services
shall be attributed to the definite place of business at which the
services are performed or, if not performed at any definite place
of business, then the definite place of business from which the services
are directed or controlled.
B.
Apportionment. If the licensee has more than one definite
place of business and it is impractical or impossible to determine
to which definite place of business gross receipts should be attributed
under the general rule, and the affected jurisdictions are unable
to reach an apportionment agreement, except as to circumstances set
forth in the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3709, the gross receipts
of the business shall be apportioned between the definite places of
businesses on the basis of payroll. Gross receipts shall not be apportioned
to a definite place of business unless some activities under the applicable
general rule occurred at or were controlled from such definite place
of business. Gross receipts attributable to a definite place of business
in another jurisdiction shall not be attributed to the City solely
because the other jurisdiction does not impose a tax on the gross
receipts attributable to the definite place of business in such other
jurisdiction.
C.
Agreements. The assessing official may enter into
agreements with any other political subdivision of Virginia concerning
the manner in which gross receipts shall be apportioned among definite
places of business. However, the sum of the gross receipts apportioned
by the agreement shall not exceed the total gross receipts attributable
to all of the definite places of business affected by the agreement.
Upon being notified by a taxpayer that its method of attributing gross
receipts is fundamentally inconsistent with the method of one or more
political subdivisions in which the taxpayer is licensed to engage
in business and that the difference has or is likely to result in
taxes on more than 100% of its gross receipts from all locations in
the affected jurisdictions, the assessing official shall make a good
faith effort to reach an apportionment agreement with the other political
subdivisions involved.
A.
Where, before the expiration of the time prescribed
for the assessment of any license tax imposed pursuant to this article,
both the assessing official and the taxpayer have consented, in writing,
to its assessment after such time, the tax may be assessed at any
time prior to the expiration of the period agreed upon. The period
so agreed upon may be extended by subsequent agreements in writing
made before the expiration of the period previously agreed upon.
B.
Notwithstanding the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3903,
the assessing official shall assess the local license tax omitted
because of fraud or failure to apply for a license for the current
license year and the six preceding years.
C.
The period for collecting any local license tax shall not expire prior to the period specified in the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3940, two years after the date of assessment if the period for assessment has been extended pursuant to this subdivision, two years after the final determination of an appeal for which collection has been stayed pursuant to § 187-6B or 187-6D of this article or two years after the final decision in a court application pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3984, or similar law for which collection has been stayed, whichever is later.
A.
Any person assessed with a licensing tax under this
article as the result of an audit may apply within 90 days from the
date of the assessment to the assessing official for a correction
of the assessment. The application must be filed in good faith and
sufficiently identify the taxpayer, audit period, remedy sought, each
alleged error in the assessment, the grounds upon which the taxpayer
relies and any other facts relevant to the taxpayer's contention.
The assessing official may hold a conference with the taxpayer if
requested by the taxpayer or require submission of additional information
and documents, further audit or other evidence deemed necessary for
a proper and equitable determination of the applications. The assessment
shall be deemed prima facie correct. The assessing official shall
undertake a full review of the taxpayer's claims and issue a determination
to the taxpayer setting forth its position. Every assessment pursuant
to an audit shall be accompanied by a written explanation of the taxpayer's
right to seek correction and the specific procedure to be followed
in the City (e.g., the name and address to which an application should
be directed).
B.
Provided that an application is made within 90 days of an assessment, collection activity shall be suspended until a final determination is issued by the assessing official, unless the assessing official determines that collection would be jeopardized by delay or that the taxpayer has not responded to a request for relevant information after a reasonable time. Interest shall accrue in accordance with the provisions of § 187-3G of this article, but no further penalty shall be imposed while collection action is suspended. The term "jeopardized by delay" includes a finding that the application is frivolous or that a taxpayer desires to depart quickly from the city, to remove his property therefrom, to conceal himself or his property therein or to do any other act tending to prejudice or to render wholly or partially ineffectual proceedings to collect the tax for the period in question.
C.
Any person assessed with a license tax under this article as a result of an audit may apply within 90 days of the determination by the assessing official on an application pursuant to Subsection A herein to the Tax Commissioner for a correction of such assessment. The Tax Commissioner shall issue a determination to the taxpayer within 90 days of receipt of the taxpayer's application, unless the taxpayer and the assessing official are notified that a longer period will be required. The application shall be treated as an application pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-1821, and the Tax Commissioner may issue an order correcting such assessment pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-1822. Following such an order, either the taxpayer or the assessing official may apply to the appropriate circuit court pursuant to the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3984. However, the burden shall be on the party making the application to show that the ruling of the Tax Commissioner is erroneous. Neither the Tax Commissioner nor the Department of Taxation shall be made a party to an application to correct an assessment merely because the Tax Commissioner has ruled on it.
D.
On receipt of a notice of intent to file an appeal to the Tax Commissioner under Subsection C herein, the assessing official shall further suspend collection activity until a final determination is issued by the Tax Commissioner, unless the assessing official determines that collection would be jeopardized by delay or that the taxpayer has not responded to a request for relevant information after a reasonable time. Interest shall accrue in accordance with the provisions of § 187-3G, but no further penalty shall be imposed while collection action is suspended. The term "jeopardized by delay" shall have the same meaning as set forth in Subsection B herein.
E.
Any taxpayer may request a written ruling regarding
the application of the tax to a specific situation from the assessing
official. Any person requesting such a ruling must provide all the
relevant facts for the situation and may present a rationale for the
basis of an interpretation of the law most favorable to the taxpayer.
Any misrepresentation or change in the applicable law or the factual
situation as presented in the ruling request shall invalidate any
such ruling issued. A written ruling may be revoked or amended prospectively
if there is a change in the law, a court decision, or the assessing
official notifies the taxpayer of a change in the policy or interpretation
upon which the ruling was based. However, any person who acts on a
written ruling which later becomes invalid shall be deemed to have
acted in good faith during the period in which such ruling was in
effect.
Every person who is assessable with a license
tax shall keep sufficient records to enable the assessing official
to verify the correctness of the tax paid for the license years assessable
and to enable the assessing official to ascertain what is the correct
amount of tax that was assessable for each of those years. All such
records, books of accounts and other information shall be open to
inspection and examination by the assessing official in order to allow
the assessing official to establish whether a particular receipt is
directly attributable to the taxable privilege exercised within the
City. The assessing official shall provide the taxpayer with the option
to conduct the audit in the taxpayer's local business office if the
records are maintained there. In the event that the records are maintained
outside the city, copies of the appropriate books and records shall
be sent to the assessing official's office upon demand.
A.
General rule. Gross receipts for license tax purposes
shall not include any amount not derived from the exercise of the
licensed privilege to engage in a business or profession in the ordinary
course of business or profession.
B.
The following items shall be excluded from gross receipts:
(1)
Amounts received and paid to the United States, the
Commonwealth or any county, City or town for the Virginia retail sales
or use tax or for any local sales tax or any local excise tax on cigarettes
or for any federal or state excise taxes on motor fuels.
(2)
Any amount representing the liquidation of a debt
or conversion of another asset to the extent that the amount is attributable
to a transaction previously taxed (e.g., the factoring of accounts
receivable created by sales which have been included in taxable receipts
even though the creation of such debt and factoring are a regular
part of its business).
(3)
Any amount representing returns and allowances granted
by the business to its customer.
(4)
Receipts which are the proceeds of a loan transaction
in which the licensee is the obligor.
(5)
Receipts representing the return of principal of a
loan transaction in which the licensee is the creditor or the return
of principal or basis upon the sale of a capital asset.
(6)
Rebates and discounts taken or received on account
of purchases by the licensee. A rebate or other incentive offered
to induce the recipient to purchase certain goods or services from
a person other than the offeror and which the recipient assigns to
the licensee in consideration of the sale of goods and services shall
not be considered a rebate or discount to the licensee, but shall
be included in the licensee's gross receipts, together with any handling
or other fees related to the incentive.
(7)
Withdrawals from inventory for purposes other than
sale or distribution and for which no consideration is received and
the occasional sale or exchange of assets other than inventory, whether
or not a gain or loss, is recognized for federal income tax purposes.
(8)
Investment income not directly related to the privilege
exercised by a licensable business not classified as rendering financial
services. This exclusion shall apply to interest on bank accounts
of the business and to interest, dividends and other income derived
from the investment of its own funds in securities and other types
of investments unrelated to the licensed privilege. This exclusion
shall not apply to interest, late fees and similar income attributable
to an installment sale or other transaction that occurred in the regular
course of business.
C.
The following shall be deducted from gross receipts
or gross purchases that would otherwise be taxable:
(1)
Any amount paid for computer hardware and software
that are sold to a United States federal or state government entity,
provided that such property was purchased within two years of the
sale to said entity by the original purchaser who shall have been
contractually obligated at the time of purchase to resell such property
to a state or federal government entity. This deduction shall not
occur until the time of resale and shall apply to only the original
cost of the property and not to its resale price, and the deduction
shall not apply to any of the tangible personal property which was
the subject of the original resale contract if it is not resold to
a state or federal governmental entity in accordance with the original
contract obligation.
(2)
Any receipts attributable to business conducted in
another state or foreign country in which the taxpayer is liable for
an income or other tax based upon income.
Every person or business subject to licensure under this section
shall be assessed and required to pay annually:
B.
Except as may be otherwise provided in Virginia Code §§ 58.1-3712, 58.1-3712.1 and 58.1-3713 and Subsection C of this section, every such person or business shall be assessed and required to pay annually a license tax on all the gross receipts of such persons includable as provided in this chapter at a rate set forth below for the class of enterprise listed:
(1)
For contractors and persons constructing for their own account for
sale, $0.15 per $100 of gross receipts;
(2)
For retailers, $0.20 per $100 of gross receipts;
(3)
For financial, real estate and professional services, $0.57 per $100
of gross receipts;
(4)
For repair, personal and business services and all other businesses
and occupations not specifically listed or exempted in this chapter
or otherwise by law, $0.35 per $100 of gross receipts;
(5)
For wholesalers, $0.05 per $100 of purchases;
(6)
For carnivals, circuses and speedways, $500 for each performance
held in the City; except no license tax shall be imposed on any activity
conducted or sponsored by a department of the City government or for
charitable purposes;
(7)
For fortune tellers, clairvoyants and practitioners of palmistry, $500 per year, subject to the provisions of § 187-17 herein;
(8)
For itinerant merchants, $500 per year, except as otherwise provided
herein:
(a)
No license tax shall be imposed on any itinerant merchant who
sells or offers for sale in person or by his employees only the following
items, or any of them, if such items were grown or produced by him
or by his employees and were not purchased by them for sale: ice,
wood, charcoal, meats, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, game, vegetables,
fruits or other family supplies of a perishable nature or farm, domestic
or nursery products.
(b)
A license tax of $500 for each location used during the tax
year shall be imposed on any itinerant merchant who sells or offers
for sale in person or by his employees only the following items, or
any of them, if such items were not grown or produced by him or his
employees: wood, meats, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, fish, oysters,
seafood, game, vegetables, fruits or other edible family supplies
of a perishable nature.
(c)
A license tax of $500 for each location used during the tax
year shall be imposed on any itinerant merchant who sells or offers
for sale Christmas trees or Christmas greens not grown or produced
by him.
(d)
An itinerant merchant whose activities are conducted solely
for charitable purposes and who is not paid for his services shall
not be required to pay any license tax hereunder.
(e)
No license tax shall be imposed on an itinerant merchant whose
activities are conducted as part of an event conducted or sponsored
by any department of the City government.
(9)
For peddlers, $500 per year, except as otherwise provided herein:
(a)
Any person who sells or offers to sell goods, wares or merchandise
to licensed dealers, other than at a definite place of business operated
by the seller, and at the time of such sale or exposure for sale delivers
or offers to deliver the goods, wares or merchandise to the buyer
is a "peddler at wholesale." Any delivery on the day of sale shall
be construed as a delivery at the time of sale. Each peddler at wholesale
shall pay a license tax for the tax year. The license tax rate for
each peddler at wholesale shall be the same as the license tax rate
applicable to a wholesale merchant selling similar goods, wares or
merchandise at one definite place of business.
(b)
No license tax shall be imposed on any peddler who sells or
offers for sale in person or by his employees only the following items,
or any of them, if such items were grown or produced by him or by
his employees and were not purchased by them for sale: ice, wood,
charcoal, meats, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, fish, oysters, game,
vegetables, fruits or other family supplies of a perishable nature
or farm, domestic or nursery products.
[Amended 12-13-2016 by Ord. No. 16-24]
(c)
A license tax of $50 for the tax year shall be imposed on any
peddler who sells or offers for sale in person or by his employees
only the following items, or any of them, if such items were not grown
or produced by him or his employees: wood, meats, milk, butter, eggs,
poultry, fish, oysters, seafood, game, vegetables, fruit or other
edible family supplies of a perishable nature.
(d)
A license tax of $50 for the tax year shall be imposed on any
peddler who sells or offers for sale Christmas trees or Christmas
greens not grown or produced by him.
(e)
A peddler whose activities are conducted solely for charitable
purposes and who is not paid for his services shall not be required
to pay any license tax hereunder.
(f)
No license tax shall be imposed on any peddler whose activities
are conducted or sponsored by a department of the City government.
(10)
For direct sellers as defined in Virginia Code § 58.1-3719.1
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.
C.
No license tax imposed pursuant to the provisions of this section
upon gross receipts shall be imposed on any person whose gross receipts
from a business, profession or occupation subject to licensure are
less than $15,000 in a license year. This limitation shall not be
applicable to license taxes on wholesalers, carnivals, circuses and
speedways, fortune tellers, clairvoyants and practitioners of palmistry,
itinerant merchants or peddlers and direct sellers.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided that it shall
be in full force and effect on and after 1-1-2010.
Every person, firm or corporation engaged in
the business of furnishing heat, light and power and gas for domestic,
commercial and industrial consumption in the City shall pay for the
privilege an annual license tax of 1/2 of 1% of the gross receipts
derived from business within the City excluding, however, such service
furnished federal, state and local public authorities, their offices
or agencies and sales for resale to other electric utilities.
Each and every telegraph company having a place
of business in the City and delivering messages without additional
charge to any point within the City limits for the business done exclusively
within the City and not including any business done to or from points
without the state and not including any business done for the United
States government or its officers and agents shall pay an annual license
tax equal to 1/2 of 1% of the gross receipts of the business
accruing to such person, firm or corporation in the city.
A.
Each and every telephone company conducting a telephone
business in the City and using and occupying the streets, avenues
and alleys in the City and conducting or maintaining the works of
the telephone company or any part thereof along, over and under said
streets, avenues and alleys in the City shall pay for the privilege
an annual license tax of 1/2 of 1% of the gross receipts derived
from business within the City excluding, however, such service furnished
federal, state and local public authorities and their offices and
agencies.
B.
This license is for the privilege of doing business
for local services in the City and does not include any license charge
for business done to and from points outside the Commonwealth and
does not include any license charge for any business done for the
government of the United States or its officers or agents and does
not include any license charge for any interstate business. This license
charge is restricted exclusively for local services and is no attempt
to tax, regulate or hinder interstate commerce.
Every person, firm or corporation engaged in
the business of retailing tobacco or any of its by-products shall
pay a specific license tax of $5 per year which shall be in addition
to the merchant's license or other licenses required to be paid by
them under the provisions of this article.
A.
Every person, firm or corporation engaged in manufacturing,
bottling and/or dispensing alcoholic beverages shall become liable
of license taxes as follows:
(1)
For each distiller's license, if more than 5,000 gallons
of alcohol or spirits, or both, are manufactured during said license
year, including bottling, the license tax shall be $600.
(2)
For each winery license, the license tax shall be
$600.
(3)
For each brewery, including bottling, the license
tax shall be $600.
(4)
For each bottler's license, the license tax shall
be $500.
(5)
For each wholesale beer license, the license tax shall
be $250.
(6)
For each wholesale wine license, the license tax shall
be $50.
(7)
For each retail on-premises wine license, the license
tax shall be $25.
(8)
For each retail on-premises beer license, the license
tax shall be $50.
(9)
For each retail off-premises wine and beer license
or wine or beer license, the license tax shall be $50.
(10)
For each retail on- and off-premises wine and
beer license or beer license, the license tax shall be $60.
(11)
Every person, firm or corporation holding a
mixed beverage or mixed alcoholic beverage restaurant and caterer's
license for establishments located within the City shall pay a local
license tax as follows:
(a)
Persons operating restaurants, including restaurants
located on premises of and operated by hotels or motels:
[1]
Two hundred dollars per year for each restaurant
with a seating capacity at tables for 50 to 100 persons.
[2]
Three hundred fifty dollars per year for each
restaurant with a seating capacity at tables for more than 100 but
not more than 150 persons.
[3]
Five hundred dollars per year for each restaurant
with a seating capacity at tables for more than 150 persons.
[4]
Five hundred dollars per year for each caterer.
(b)
A private nonprofit club operating a restaurant
on the premises of such club: $350 per year.
B.
The aforesaid licenses shall be as respectively defined
by the Act of the General Assembly of Virginia, as heretofore and
hereafter amended, known as the "Alcoholic Beverage Control Act,"[1] and the terms "alcoholic beverage," "alcohol," "spirits,"
"beer" and "wine," wherever used in this section, shall have the meanings
respectively prescribed to them by said Act.
[1]
Editor's Note: See the Code of Virginia, § 4.1-100
et seq.
C.
No license shall be issued under this section to any
person unless such person shall hold or shall secure simultaneously
therewith the proper state license required by said Alcoholic Beverage
Control Act, which state license shall be exhibited to the assessing
official.
D.
Any such license may be amended to show a change in
the place of business within the City. Any such license may be transferred
from one person to another, provided that the person to whom transferred
holds at the time a similar license from the Alcoholic Beverage Control
Board.
A.
Every person engaged in the business of organizing,
promoting or managing a flea market or craft show shall obtain a license
for the privilege of doing such business in the City and shall pay
a license tax of $30.
[Amended 12-13-2016 by Ord. No. 16-24]
B.
"Flea market or craft show" shall include any show
consisting of a group of persons or merchants selling goods, wares
or merchandise such as hobby crafts, antiques, art works or secondhand
articles or any combination of these.
C.
No individual participating in a flea market or craft
show as a merchant shall be liable for any license taxation on his
gross receipts generated at such show under this article if the promoter,
manager or organizer of the show obtains a license and pays the license
tax as provided in this section and if the merchant reports to such
promoter, manager or organizer the merchant's total gross receipts
from such show.
D.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed
to relieve any promoter, manager or organizer of a flea market or
craft show of the obligation to pay any other license taxes that may
be imposed by this article.
A.
Every person, firm or corporation selling, leasing,
renting or otherwise furnishing or providing a coin-operated machine
or device operated on the coin-in-the-slot principle shall be deemed
to be a coin machine "operator"; provided, however, that the term
"operator" shall not include a person, firm or corporation owning
less than three coin machines and operating such machines on property
owned or leased by such person, firm or corporation.
B.
Every operator operating 10 or more coin machines
shall pay for the privilege an annual license tax of $200. Every operator
operating more than two and fewer than 10 coin machines shall pay
for the privilege an annual license tax of $175. The license tax on
an operator shall not be prorated and an operator's license shall
not be transferred.
C.
The coin machine operator's license tax imposed by
this section shall not be applicable to operators of weighing machines,
automatic baggage or parcel-checking machines or receptacles, nor
to operators of vending machines which are so constructed as to do
nothing but vend goods, wares and merchandise or postage stamps or
provide service only, nor to operators of viewing machines or photomat
machines, nor to operators of devices and machines affording rides
to children or for the delivery of newspapers.
A.
No license issued pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B(7) of § 187-9 herein shall be granted to any person, except upon a certificate to the Chief of Police that such person has appeared at police headquarters and given such general description of himself or herself as is required by the Chief of Police and has presented to him a certificate signed by five citizens of the City that such person is of good character and honest demeanor and has resided in the City for at least 12 months prior to the granting of such certificate, and except and until the Chief of Police shall be satisfied from his own knowledge and from an independent investigation to be made by him that the statements contained in the certificate required to be signed by the citizens of the City are true. Upon presentation of such certificates to the assessing official by any such applicant, the assessing official shall issue a license in which shall be stated the day, month and year on which the license expires; and upon the payment of the license tax and issuance thereof, a duplicate shall be transmitted to the Chief of Police.
B.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed
to apply to persons pretending to tell fortunes or practicing palmistry,
phrenology, handwriting analysis or as clairvoyants in a regular licensed
theater, as part of any show or exhibition presented therein or as
a part of any play, exhibition, fair or show presented or offered
in aid of any benevolent, charitable or educational purpose.
[Amended 6-13-2006 by Ord. No. 06-14; 6-14-2011 by Ord. No.
11-14]
No business license shall be issued hereunder
to any person to be a tattoo operator, engage in the practice or business
of tattooing as a tattoo artist, or engage in the practice or business
of body piercing, unless and until there is presented to the assessing
official a license from the Board for Barbers and Cosmetology permitting
the person to engage in tattooing or body piercing. Any tattoo artist
or tattoo operator shall also be a member in good standing of the
Alliance of Professional Tattooists, Inc. (APT) and shall provide
the assessing official with proof of such membership. As used in this
chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:
Means the creating of an opening in an individual's body,
other than an individual's ear, to insert jewelry or another decoration.
Means any person who actually performs the work of tattooing.
Means the placing of designs, letters, scrolls, figures,
symbols or any other marks upon or under the skin of any person with
ink or any other substance, resulting in the permanent re-coloration
of the skin, including permanent makeup or permanent jewelry, by the
aid of needles or any other instrument designed to touch or puncture
the skin.
Means any person who controls, operates, conducts, or manages
any tattoo studio, whether actually performing the work of tattooing
or not.
[Amended 6-8-2004 by Ord. No. 04-12]
Any person who shall offer for sale any items of tangible property at sales, commonly known as "yard, garage or backyard sales," whereby such items are offered for sale on property classified as "residential" by Chapter 286, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Colonial Heights, shall pay a specific license tax of $5 for the privilege of conducting such a sale. No more than four licenses, for two consecutive days each, shall be issued in any calendar year to the same person or for a sale on the same property, and no sale shall be held on Sunday. No license shall be issued except upon sworn statement or affidavit of the applicant or applicants that only secondhand or used items owned by an applicant shall be offered for sale.
Any person, firm or corporation prosecuting, conducting or engaging in any business, trade, profession, occupation, vocation or calling and any person, firm or corporation who shall open an office for a place of business or who shall by the use of signs or otherwise advertise any business, trade, profession, occupation, vocation or calling within said City shall make application to the assessing official for a license pursuant to § 187-3, and any person, firm or corporation failing to make such application shall be punished as provided in § 58.1-3916.1 of the Code of Virginia. It shall be the duty of the assessing official to keep a record of all such applications.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation prosecuting, conducting
or engaging in any business, trade, profession, occupation, vocation
or calling for which a license tax is required under this article
without obtaining such license shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor
as provided by § 18.2-11 of the Code of Virginia.
B.
Such conviction shall not relieve any such person,
firm or corporation from the payment of any license tax, penalty or
interest imposed by this article.
C.
Failure to pay the license tax within 60 days after
the due date will result in automatic revocation of such license,
and the business, trade, profession, occupation, vocation or calling
shall be immediately discontinued.
