Virginia Certificate of Registration for Sales Tax

If you sell taxable goods or services in Virginia, you must get a Virginia Certificate of Registration for sales tax from the Department of Taxation before your first sale. There is no fee to register, but operating without one is a criminal offense. The certificate ties your business to Virginia’s sales and use tax system and authorizes you to collect tax from customers at rates between 5.3% and 7% depending on where the sale happens.

Who Needs to Register

Virginia Code § 58.1-613 requires every person who wants to do business as a “dealer” to apply with the Tax Commissioner before starting operations, and you need a separate certificate for each physical location where you do business in the state.¹ “Dealer” is broad: anyone who sells, rents, or leases tangible goods at retail, plus businesses providing taxable services.

Physical presence triggers registration in the obvious ways. An office, a warehouse, employees in Virginia — any of these put you in. Sales volume alone can also pull you in. Under Virginia’s economic nexus rules, a remote seller must register after generating more than $100,000 in gross revenue from Virginia sales or completing 200 or more separate transactions with Virginia customers in the current or previous calendar year.² Virginia still enforces both thresholds even as some other states have dropped the transaction count.

If You Sell Only Through a Marketplace

Online platforms that facilitate sales for third parties carry their own registration and collection obligations under Virginia Code § 58.1-612.1. When a marketplace facilitator collects the tax on a transaction, the individual seller does not collect it on that same transaction.³ If you sell exclusively through a platform like Amazon or Etsy that already handles Virginia tax, you may not need your own certificate for those sales. The moment you add your own website, a craft fair booth, or any other direct channel, you do.

How to Register

Since July 1, 2024, all new businesses must register with Virginia Tax online.⁴ Paper Form R-1 still exists for applicants who cannot complete the process electronically, but that exception is narrow.⁵ For almost everyone, the portal at tax.virginia.gov is the only route.

Have the following ready before you start:

Federal Employer Identification Number. Sole proprietors also give a Social Security number.
Legal business name and the physical address where you operate (not a P.O. box).
Names, titles, and identification numbers for each owner or responsible officer.
The date you began or plan to begin operations in Virginia.
Estimated monthly gross sales. Virginia uses this to assign your filing frequency.

Online applications typically process within a few business days. Once approved, you receive a registration number that becomes your account identifier for every sales and use tax filing going forward.

What the Certificate Covers

The certificate is location-specific and non-transferable. It is valid only for the person named on it and the specific business address listed, and you must display it where customers can see it.¹ A second store or warehouse means a second certificate. You cannot sell, lend, or give it to anyone else, and if you buy an existing business the previous owner’s certificate does not come with the deal.

Virginia Sales Tax Rates

The rate you collect depends on where the sale happens or where the goods are delivered. Virginia does not use a single flat rate:

5.3% in most of the state (the default).
6% in Central Virginia (Richmond and surrounding counties), Hampton Roads, and Northern Virginia.
6.3% in several southern and Eastern Shore localities, including Danville, Henry County, Halifax County, and Northampton County.
7% in James City County, Williamsburg, and York County.

The amounts above 5.3% fund regional transportation and other local priorities. Set your point-of-sale system to the correct rate for each location where you operate or deliver.⁶

Filing Returns

Holding the certificate puts you on a filing schedule. Virginia assigns monthly or quarterly frequency based on expected sales volume. Starting with the April 2025 period, all sales tax filers use Form ST-1, which replaced the older ST-9, ST-8, ST-7, and ST-6.⁶

Returns are due on the 20th of the month after the close of each filing period. April sales for a monthly filer are due May 20. The January-through-March quarter is due April 20. Zero sales do not excuse the return. Virginia expects one every period, and skipping it will produce a delinquency notice.⁶

Keep sales records, exemption certificates, and purchase invoices for at least three years from the return’s due date or the date you filed, whichever is later. Auditors can request documentation for any period inside that window.

The Dealer’s Discount

Virginia pays dealers for the work of collecting tax. If your return and payment are on time, you deduct a percentage of the first 3% of tax collected. The rate depends on monthly taxable sales:

$0 to $62,500: 4% discount.
$62,501 to $208,000: 3%.
$208,001 and above: 2%.

The discount applies only to the first 3% of the tax, not the full rate, and you lose it entirely if your payment is late.⁷

Accepting Exemption Certificates

Some buyers will hand you an exemption certificate, usually because they are buying for resale or for an exempt use like manufacturing. Virginia regulations put the burden on you to accept these in good faith. A properly completed certificate relieves you of liability for the tax on that sale. Skip collecting one and you are personally on the hook for the tax that should have been charged.⁸

A certificate that is incomplete or inconsistent on its face is never acceptable. If a buyer gives you a form with blank fields or details that do not match the transaction, do not accept it. Keep valid certificates with your sales records for the same three-year period. During an audit, an exempt sale without a certificate behind it is essentially an automatic assessment.

Use Tax on Your Own Purchases

The certificate also pulls you into Virginia’s use tax system. When your business buys tangible goods from a vendor that does not charge Virginia sales tax, whether an out-of-state supplier, an online seller, or a seller in a lower-rate jurisdiction, you owe use tax on that purchase. The rate matches the sales tax rate for your location. You self-assess and report it on the same return you use for sales tax.

This catches new owners off guard. Office furniture ordered from an out-of-state website, equipment bought at a trade show in another state, and inventory originally purchased for resale but pulled off the shelf for internal use all trigger it. The common thread: no Virginia tax was collected at the point of sale, so you account for it yourself.

Penalties for Not Registering or Not Filing

Operating as a dealer without a certificate, or continuing to operate after yours has been revoked or suspended, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Each day you continue counts as a separate offense, and corporate officers can be charged individually.¹

On the civil side, failing to file or pay triggers a penalty of 6% of the tax due for the first month or fraction of a month, with another 6% for each additional month, capped at 30%. The minimum penalty is $10 even if no tax is owed.⁹ The Tax Commissioner can also revoke or suspend your certificate after a hearing with 10 days’ written notice, which effectively shuts down your authority to make taxable sales in Virginia.¹

Buying an Existing Virginia Business

Buying an existing business? The seller’s certificate does not move with the assets. You apply for your own as a new business. The more dangerous issue is unpaid sales tax from the prior owner. Virginia regulations require you to withhold enough of the purchase price to cover any outstanding tax, penalties, and interest. Pay the seller the full price without confirming the account is clean and you become personally liable for whatever they owed.¹⁰

Request a clearance receipt from the Department before closing. The receipt shows whether the previous dealer has any unpaid obligations. The Department can refuse to issue your new certificate if it has notified you of unpaid taxes by the prior owner and those amounts remain outstanding.

Closing or Moving Your Business

When you stop operating at a location on your certificate, the certificate expires automatically. You must notify the Tax Commissioner in writing within 30 days,¹ which you can do through your online account.¹¹ Telling Virginia Tax prevents the Department from expecting future returns and sending delinquency notices for periods after you have shut down.

If you are relocating rather than closing, notify the Tax Commissioner and your certificate will be revised for the new address. You only need a brand-new certificate when you open a genuinely additional location, not when you move an existing one.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-613 – Dealers Certificates of Registration
2
Virginia Tax. Remote Sellers, Marketplace Facilitators, Economic Nexus
3
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-612.1 – Tax Collectible From Marketplace Facilitators
4
Virginia Tax. New Virginia Businesses Must Register with Us Online Starting July 1
5
Virginia Department of Taxation. Business Registration Form R-1
6
Virginia Tax. Retail Sales and Use Tax
7
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-622 – Discount
8
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 23VAC10-210-280 – Certificates of Exemption
9
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-635 – Failure to File Return; Fraudulent Return; Civil Penalties
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Administrative Code 23VAC10-210-3090 – Sale or Quitting of Business
11
Virginia Tax. Closing Your Business