(A) Every person in the town engaging in any business, trade, profession, occupation, or calling, unless otherwise exempted by law, shall apply for a license for each such business, trade, profession, occupation, or calling if such person maintains a definite place of business in the town; such person does not maintain a definite place of business anywhere but the person resides in the town, which residence for the purposes of this chapter shall be deemed a definite place of business; or there is no definite place of business in the town but such person operates amusement machines, is engaged as a peddler or itinerant merchant, carnival, or circus as specified in VA Code §§ 58.1-3717, 58.1-3718, or 58.1-3728, respectively, or is a contractor subject to VA Code § 58.1-3715, or is a public service corporation subject to VA Code § 58.1-3731. A separate license shall be required for each definite place of business and for each 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 subject to licensure at the location and has satisfied any requirements imposed by state law or other provisions of the ordinances of the town;
(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; and
(3) The taxpayer agrees to supply such information as the Assessor may require concerning the nature of the several businesses and their gross receipts.
(B) Each person subject to a license tax and fee shall apply for a license prior to beginning business if he or she was not subject to licensing in the town on or before January 1 of the license year, or no later than March 1 of the current license year if he or she had been issued a license for the preceding license year. The application shall be on forms prescribed by the Town Treasurer.
(C) The fee for issuing a license shall be paid with the application. The tax shall be paid with the application in the case of any new businesses or license not based on gross receipts. If the tax is measured by gross receipts of the business, the tax shall be paid on or before March 1 each year.
(D) The Town Treasurer 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, with a penalty of 10% of the portion paid after the due date.
(E) 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 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 Town Treasurer determines that the taxpayer has a history of noncompliance. In the case of an assessment of additional tax made by the Town Treasurer, 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 Town Treasurer is not paid within 30 days, the Town Treasurer may impose a 10% late payment penalty. The penalties shall not be imposed, or if imposed, shall be abated by the Town Treasurer, 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 or she acted responsibly and that the failure was due to events beyond his or her control. The terms “acted responsibly” and “events beyond the taxpayer’s control” are defined in VA Code § 58.1-3703.1.
(F) 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 any penalties 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 BPOL tax 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 VA Code § 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, provided 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.
(1998 Code, § 14-40) (Ord. O-2007-3, passed 9-11-2007; Ord. O-2023-05, passed 4-4-2023; Ord. O-2023-07, passed 5-16-2023) Penalty, see § 111.99