Virginia Code 4.1-234: Tax on wine and other alcoholic beverages; exceptions.
A. In addition to the taxes imposed pursuant to Chapter 6 of Title 58.1, a tax of 40 cents is levied on each liter of wine sold in the Commonwealth. Additionally, on vermouth and on farm winery wines sold to consumers by the Board the state tax shall be four percent of the price charged.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 4.1-234
- Alcohol: means the product known as ethyl or grain alcohol obtained by distillation of any fermented liquor, rectified either once or more often, whatever the origin, and shall include synthetic ethyl alcohol, but shall not include methyl alcohol and alcohol completely denatured in accordance with formulas approved by the government of the United States. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Alcoholic beverages: includes alcohol, spirits, wine, and beer, and any one or more of such varieties containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, including mixed alcoholic beverages, and every liquid or solid, powder or crystal, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer and capable of being consumed by a human being. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Beer: means any alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of an infusion or decoction of barley, malt, and hops or of any similar products in drinkable water and containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Board: means the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Farm winery: means (i) an establishment or cooperative located in the Commonwealth on land zoned agricultural that has (a) a vineyard, orchard, or similar growing area that produces fruits or other agricultural products used to manufacture the wine of such farm winery, subject to the requirements set forth in § Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Licensee: means any person to whom a license has been granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- 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
- Wine: includes any wine to which wine spirits have been added, as provided in the Internal Revenue Code, to make products commonly known as "fortified wine" which do not exceed an alcohol content of 21 percent by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
B. There is levied on other alcoholic beverages sold by the Board a tax of 20 percent of the price charged. This subsection shall also apply to all alcoholic beverages purchased from the Board by any mixed beverage licensee.
C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to (i) beer, (ii) wine coolers, (iii) sales of wine by manufacturers to wholesale wine licensees for resale to retail licensees, (iv) sales, other than by or through government stores, of alcoholic beverages for manufacturing and industrial purposes, or either, (v) sales, other than by or through government stores, of alcohol for hospital and laboratory purposes, or either, (vi) alcoholic beverages shipped from the Commonwealth to points outside the Commonwealth, for resale outside the Commonwealth, (vii) alcoholic beverages shipped from the Commonwealth to consumers outside the Commonwealth for personal consumption and not for resale, and (viii) sales to any instrumentality of the federal government.
1968, c. 609, § 4-98.20; 1980, c. 624, § 4-22.1; 1981, cc. 381, 407; 1982, cc. 540, 556; 1984, c. 200; 1985, cc. 222, 457; 1986, c. 130; 1993, c. 866; 2011, cc. 238, 299.