Do I need a sales tax permit in Virginia?

Every person who wants to do business as a dealer in Virginia must apply to the Tax Commissioner for a certificate of registration for each place of business in the state before selling. The same rule applies to a business that owes only the duty to collect Virginia use tax. Virginia calls the registration a Virginia certificate of registration. For a seller outside Virginia, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the previous or current calendar year. Virginia's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Virginia

How to Get a Virginia Certificate of Registration

The short answer. In Virginia, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Virginia sales tax is a Virginia certificate of registration, issued by the Virginia Department of Taxation. Virginia charges no fee for the certificate of registration.

Virginia Certificate of Registration at a Glance

What Virginia calls it	Virginia Certificate of Registration
Issued by	Virginia Department of Taxation
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	Free
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Does not expire (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location (see Locations)
Local sales tax	Depends (see Local taxes)
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs a Virginia Certificate of Registration

Every person who wants to do business as a dealer in Virginia must apply to the Tax Commissioner for a certificate of registration for each place of business in the state before selling. The same rule applies to a business that owes only the duty to collect Virginia use tax.

For a seller outside Virginia, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the previous or current calendar year. Virginia's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the Virginia Department of Taxation. Go to Virginia's registration page.

Virginia requires your registration to be displayed at the place of business.

What It Costs

Virginia charges no fee for the certificate of registration.

Virginia may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require a bond, or approved securities deposited with the State Treasurer instead, when the Commissioner judges it necessary to secure collection of the tax.

Does It Expire?

The certificate of registration does not expire. It is valid only for the business and the location named on it, and it ends if you stop doing business at that location, which you must report to Virginia Tax in writing within 30 days.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate certificate of registration for each place of business in Virginia. A dealer with several locations in one locality, or five or more in the state, may be allowed to file one combined or consolidated return, but still needs a certificate for each location.

Local Sales Taxes in Virginia

The local sales and use tax charged in every Virginia county and city is administered by Virginia Tax and reported on your state return. Local meals (food and beverage) taxes and lodging (transient occupancy) taxes are imposed by counties, cities and towns and paid to the locality, so check with each locality where you sell meals or rent rooms.

More for Virginia Businesses

Virginia resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
Virginia LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in Virginia, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Every person who wants to do business as a dealer in Virginia must apply to the Tax Commissioner for a certificate of registration for each place of business in the state before selling. The same rule applies to a business that owes only the duty to collect Virginia use tax. Virginia calls the registration a Virginia certificate of registration. For a seller outside Virginia, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions in the previous or current calendar year. Virginia's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: Virginia charges no fee for the certificate of registration. Virginia may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Tax Commissioner may require a bond, or approved securities deposited with the State Treasurer instead, when the Commissioner judges it necessary to secure collection of the tax.
: The certificate of registration does not expire. It is valid only for the business and the location named on it, and it ends if you stop doing business at that location, which you must report to Virginia Tax in writing within 30 days.
: A business needs a separate certificate of registration for each place of business in Virginia. A dealer with several locations in one locality, or five or more in the state, may be allowed to file one combined or consolidated return, but still needs a certificate for each location.
: The local sales and use tax charged in every Virginia county and city is administered by Virginia Tax and reported on your state return. Local meals (food and beverage) taxes and lodging (transient occupancy) taxes are imposed by counties, cities and towns and paid to the locality, so check with each locality where you sell meals or rent rooms.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Virginia sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-613/Va. Code 58.1-613, Dealers' certificates of registration
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-612/Va. Code 58.1-612, Tax collectible from dealers; dealer defined; jurisdiction
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-630/Va. Code 58.1-630, Bond
law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title23/agency10/chapter210/section290/23VAC10-210-290, Certificate of registration
law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title23/agency10/chapter210/section880/23VAC10-210-880, Local sales and use taxes
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-605/Va. Code 58.1-605, Local sales taxes, collection by Commonwealth
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter38/section58.1-3833/Va. Code 58.1-3833, County food and beverage tax
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter38/section58.1-3840/Va. Code 58.1-3840, Certain excise taxes permitted
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter38/section58.1-3819/Va. Code 58.1-3819, Transient occupancy tax
tax.virginia.gov/retail-sales-and-use-taxVirginia Tax, Retail Sales and Use Tax
tax.virginia.gov/register-business-virginiaVirginia Tax, Register a Business in Virginia

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.