Virginia Code 58.1-625: Collection of tax
A. The tax levied by this chapter shall be paid by the dealer, but the dealer shall separately state the amount of the tax and add such tax to the sales price or charge. Thereafter, such tax shall be a debt from the purchaser, consumer, or lessee to the dealer until paid and shall be recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts. No action at law or suit in equity under this chapter may be maintained in this Commonwealth by any dealer that is not registered under § 58.1-613 or is delinquent in the payment of the taxes imposed under this chapter.
Attorney's Note
Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 misdemeanor | up to 12 months | up to $2,500 |
Terms Used In Virginia Code 58.1-625
- dealer: includes every person that:
1. See Virginia Code 58.1-612
- Distribution: means the transfer or delivery of tangible personal property for use, consumption, or storage by the distributee, and the use, consumption, or storage of tangible personal property by a person that has processed, manufactured, refined, or converted such property, but does not include the transfer or delivery of tangible personal property for resale or any use, consumption, or storage otherwise exempt under this chapter. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Marketplace facilitator: means a person that contracts with a marketplace seller to facilitate, for consideration and regardless of whether such consideration is deducted as fees from transactions, the sale of such marketplace seller's products through a physical or electronic marketplace operated by such person. See Virginia Code 58.1-612.1
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Remote seller: means any dealer deemed to have sufficient activity within the Commonwealth to require registration under § 58. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- Sale: means any transfer of title or possession, or both, exchange, barter, lease or rental, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, of tangible personal property and any rendition of a taxable service for a consideration, and includes the fabrication of tangible personal property for consumers who furnish, either directly or indirectly, the materials used in fabrication, and the furnishing, preparing, or serving for a consideration of any tangible personal property consumed on the premises of the person furnishing, preparing, or serving such tangible personal property. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- Sales price: means the total amount for which tangible personal property or services are sold, including any services that are a part of the sale, valued in money, whether paid in money or otherwise, and includes any amount for which credit is given to the purchaser, consumer, or lessee by the dealer, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, losses or any other expenses whatsoever. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Storage: means any keeping or retention of tangible personal property for use, consumption or distribution in the Commonwealth, or for any purpose other than sale at retail in the regular course of business. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
- Use: means the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to the ownership thereof, except that it does not include the sale at retail of that property in the regular course of business. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
- Use tax: refers to the tax imposed upon the use, consumption, distribution, and storage as defined in this section. See Virginia Code 58.1-602
B. Notwithstanding any exemption from taxes which any dealer now or hereafter may enjoy under the Constitution or laws of this or any other state, or of the United States, such dealer shall collect such tax from the purchaser, consumer, or lessee and shall pay the same over to the Tax Commissioner as herein provided.
C. Any dealer collecting the sales or use tax on transactions exempt or not taxable under this chapter shall transmit to the Tax Commissioner such erroneously or illegally collected tax unless or until it can affirmatively show that the tax has since been refunded to the purchaser or credited to its account.
D. 1. Any dealer that neglects, fails, or refuses to collect such tax upon every taxable sale, distribution, lease, or storage of tangible personal property made by it, its agents, or employees shall be liable for and pay the tax itself, and such dealer shall not thereafter be entitled to sue for or recover in this Commonwealth any part of the purchase price or rental from the purchaser until such tax is paid. Moreover, any dealer that neglects, fails, or refuses to pay or collect the tax herein provided, either by itself or through its agents or employees, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
2. Notwithstanding subdivision 1, any remote seller or marketplace facilitator that has collected an incorrect amount of sales and use tax shall be relieved from liability for such amount, including any penalty or interest, if the error is a result of the remote seller’s or marketplace facilitator’s reasonable reliance on information provided by the Commonwealth.
E. All sums collected by a dealer as required by this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust for the Commonwealth.
F. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, any dealer is authorized during the period of time set forth in § 58.1-611.2 not to collect the tax levied by this chapter or levied under the authority granted in §§ 58.1-605 and 58.1-606 from the purchaser, and to absorb such tax itself. A dealer electing to absorb such taxes shall be liable for payment of such taxes to the Tax Commissioner in the same manner as it is for tax collected from a purchaser pursuant to this section.
Code 1950, § 58-441.18; 1966, c. 151; 1972, c. 355; 1979, c. 198; 1984, c. 675; 2006, cc. 579, 593; 2013, c. 766; 2019, cc. 815, 816, 854.