Virginia Code 58.1-3717: Peddlers; itinerant merchants
A. For the purpose of license taxation pursuant to § 58.1-3703, any person who shall carry from place to place any goods, wares or merchandise and offer to sell or barter the same, or actually sell or barter the same, shall be deemed to be a peddler.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 58.1-3717
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
B. For the purpose of license taxation pursuant to § 58.1-3703, the term “itinerant merchant” means any person who engages in, does, or transacts any temporary or transient business in any locality and who, for the purpose of carrying on such business, occupies any location for a period of less than one year.
C. Any tax imposed pursuant to § 58.1-3703 on peddlers and itinerant merchants shall not exceed $500 per year. Dealers in precious metals shall be taxed at rates provided in § 58.1-3706.
D. This section shall not apply to a peddler at wholesale or to those who sell or offer for sale in person or by their employees ice, wood, charcoal, meats, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, game, vegetables, fruits or other family supplies of a perishable nature or farm products grown or produced by them and not purchased by them for sale. A dairyman who uses upon the streets of any city one or more vehicles may sell and deliver from his vehicles, milk, butter, cream and eggs in such city without procuring a peddler’s license.
E. The local governing body imposing such tax may by ordinance designate the streets or other public places on or in which all licensed peddlers or itinerant merchants may sell or offer for sale their goods, wares or merchandise.
F. Any locality that requires a peddler or itinerant merchant to display its license at its vehicle or temporary place of business shall provide to the peddler or itinerant merchant a decal, sticker, or other adhesive label that satisfies such requirement.
Code 1950, §§ 58-266.8, 58-340; 1982, c. 633; 1983, c. 550; 1984, c. 675; 2017, c. 28.