(A) License requirements.
(1) Every person shall apply annually for a license for each business or profession when engaging in a business or profession in the county if:
(a) The person has a definite place of business in the county;
(b) There is no definite place of business anywhere and the person resides in the county; or
(c) There is no definite place of business in the county but the person operates amusement machines or is classified as an itinerant merchant, peddler, contractor subject to VA Code § 58.1-3715, as amended, operates a carnival, or circus or is a public service corporation.
(2) A separate license shall be required for each definite place of business and for each business.
(3) A person engaged in two or more businesses or professions earned 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:
(a) Each business or profession is subject to licensure at the location and has satisfied any requirements imposed by state law or other provisions of the ordinances of the county; and
(b) All of the businesses or professions are subject to the same license fee.
(B) Due dates and penalties.
(1) Each person subject to a license fee shall apply for the license prior to beginning business, or no later than March 1 of the license year if he or she had been issued a license of the preceding year.
The application shall be on forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Revenue.
(2) A fee referred to in division (C) of this section shall be paid with the application.
(3) A penalty of 10% of the fee may be imposed upon the failure to file an application or the failure to pay the fee by the appropriate date.
(4) Under the authority of VA Code § 15.2-1429, as amended, operating a business without a business license shall constitute a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $500.
(C) Rate of license fee. The fee for the issuance of a business license shall be $30 each year. No business license under this subchapter shall be issued until the applicant has produced satisfactory evidence that all delinquent business license fees, personal property, meals, transient occupancy, severance and admissions (if applicable) taxes owed by the business to the county have been paid which have been properly assessed against the applicant by the county.
(D) Exemptions. No license fee shall be required:
(1) On any public service corporation or any motor carrier, common carrier, or other carrier of passengers or property certified by the Interstate Commerce Commission or presently registered for insurance purposes with the Surface Transportation Board of the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, except as provided in VA Code § 58.1-3731 or as permitted by other provisions of law;
(2) For selling farm or domestic products or nursery products, ornamental or otherwise, or for the planting of nursery products, as an incident to the sale thereof, outside the regular market houses and sheds of the County; provided, such products are grown or produced by the person offering such products for sale;
(3) Upon the privilege or right of printing or publishing any newspaper, magazine, newsletter or other publication issued daily or regularly at average intervals not exceeding three months; provided the publication’s subscription sales are exempt from state sales tax, or for the privilege or right of operating or conduction of any radio or television broadcast station or service;
(4) On a manufacturer for the privilege of manufacturing and selling goods, wares and merchandise at wholesale at the place of manufacturer;
(5) On a person engaged in the business of severing minerals from the earth for the privilege of selling the severed mineral at wholesale at the place of severance, except as provided in VA Code §§ 58.1-3712 and 58.1-3713, as amended, authorizing counties to levy a license tax on every person engaging in the business of severing coal, oil or gases from the earth;
(6) Upon a wholesaler for the privilege of selling goods, wares and merchandise to other persons for resale unless such wholesaler has a definite place of business or store in the county; this subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting the county from imposing the license fee on a peddler at wholesale pursuant to VA Code § 58.1-3718;
(7) Upon any person, firm or corporation for engaging in the business of renting, as the owner of such property, real property other than hotels, motels, motor lodges, auto courts, tourist courts, travel trailer parks, lodging houses, rooming houses and boarding houses;
(8) On or measured by receipts for management, accounting or administrative services provided on a group basis under nonprofit cost-sharing agreement by a corporation which is an agricultural cooperative association under the provisions of VA Code Title 13.1, Chapter 3, Article 2, §§ 13.1-312 et seq., as amended, or a member or subsidiary or affiliated association thereof, to other members of the same group; this exemption shall not exempt any such corporation from such license requirements to be measured by receipts from outside the group;
(9) On or measured by receipts or purchases by an entity which is a member of an affiliated group of entities from other members of the same affiliated group. This exclusion shall not exempt affiliated entities from such license or other tax measured by receipts or purchases from outside the affiliated group. This exclusion also shall not preclude a locality from levying a wholesale merchant’s license fee on an affiliated entity on those sales by the affiliated entity to a nonaffiliated entity, notwithstanding the fact that the wholesale merchant’s license fee would be based upon purchases from an affiliated entity;
(10) On any insurance company subject to taxation under VA Code Chapter 25, §§ 58.1-2500 et seq., as amended, or on any agent of such company;
(11) On any bank or trust company subject to taxation in VA Code, Chapter 12, §§ 58.1-1200 et seq., as amended;
(12) Upon a taxicab driver, if the county has imposed a license fee upon the taxicab company for which the taxicab driver operates;
(13) On any blind person operating a vending stand or other business enterprise under the jurisdiction of the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired, or a nominee of the department, as set forth in VA Code § 51.5-98, as amended;
(14) On an accredited religious practitioner in the practice of the religious tenets of any church or religious denomination; “accredited religious practitioner’” shall be defined as one who is engaged solely in praying for others upon accreditation by such church or religious denomination;
(15) On or measured by receipts of a charitable nonprofit organizations exempt to the extent the organization has receipts from an unrelated trade or business the income of which is taxable under the Internal Revenue Code §§ 511 et seq. For the purpose of this division, “charitable nonprofit organization” means an organization which is described in the Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3) and to which contributions are deductible by the contributor under the Internal Revenue Code § 170, except that educational institutions shall be limited to schools, colleges, and other similar institutions of learning;
(16) On or measured by gifts, contributions, and membership dues of a nonprofit organization. Activities conducted for consideration which are similar to activities conducted for consideration by for-profit businesses shall be presumed to be activities that are part of a business subject to licensure. For the purpose of this subdivision, “nonprofit organization” means an organization exempt from federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code § 501 other than charitable nonprofit organizations; or
(17) On any venture capital fund or other investment fund, except commissions and fees of such funds. Gross receipts from the sale and rental of real estate and buildings remain taxable by the locality in which the real estate is located provided the locality is otherwise authorized to tax such business and rental of real estate;
(18) On total assessments paid by condominium unit owners for common expenses. “Common expenses” and “unit owner” have the same meanings as in VA Code § 55-79.41; or
(19) On or measured by receipts of a qualifying transportation facility directly or indirectly owned or title to which is held by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or by the United States as described in VA Code § 58.1-3606.1 and developed and/or operated pursuant to a concession under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (§§ 56-556 et seq.) or similar federal law.
(E) No contractor’s license required except where principal office located; exceptions. When a contractor has paid any local license tax required by the county, city or town in which his principal office and any branch office or offices are located, no further license or license tax shall be required by any such contractor except when the amount of business done in this county exceeds the sum of $25,000. In such event, such contractor shall secure a license.
(F) Limitation on county license tax or fee within towns. Any county license tax or fee imposed pursuant to this subchapter shall not apply within the limits of any town located in Northampton County, where such town now, or hereafter, imposes a town license tax or fee on the same privilege. If the governing body of any town within the county, however, provides that a county license tax or fee shall apply within the limits of such town, then such license tax or fee may be imposed within such town.
(G) Display of license. Every person required to pay a license tax or obtain any license, tag, or sign under the provisions of this subchapter shall keep the license, tag, or sign in a convenient place; and, whenever required to do so, shall exhibit it to any member of the sheriff’s department when detailed or authorized to inspect such licenses or to the Commissioner of the Revenue or his or her agent.
(H) Effective date and repeal of other ordinances.
(1) This subchapter has been adopted pursuant to VA Code §§ 58.1-3700 et seq. and shall become effective on January 1, 2010.
(2) Any other ordinance related to merchant’s capital tax, as defined in VA Code §§ 58.1-3509 and 58.1-3510, is repealed as of December 31, 2009 in accordance with VA Code § 58.1-3704.
(Ord. passed 10-13-2009; Am. Ord. passed 6-14-2011)