General Assembly

The following are some of the bills that have passed, and most take effect July 1.  Please note that these are just a few.  For a more complete list, you may view the Legislative Wrap-Up Report at your local Retail Merchants Association’s office, 2412 Langhorne Road, Lynchburg, VA.

Dealer Discount in the budget – Virginia’s vendor allowance, also known as the dealer discount, has been reduced by 60% for some dealers and all other dealers that are required to file electronically (those with average monthly taxable sales over $20,000 for a year) have lost their dealer discount completely. We were able to convince the Governor to amend the budget language so that the dealer discount is suspended, rather than eliminated.  If you would like additional information, you may contact VRMA (info@virginiaretail.org) and they can provide the new guidelines.

Accelerated Sales Tax Payments in the budget – You will be required to remit your sales tax collections for June in June.  Look for more information from the Department of Taxation in the mail, or e-mail VRMA for guidelines or additional information.  VRMA requested that the Governor begin phasing this out by 2013, the Governor agreed and adopted our proposed amendments.

HB505 & SB334 - Concealed handguns; restaurants; penalty. These bills allow a person with a concealed handgun permit to carry a concealed handgun onto the premises of a restaurant or club and prohibits such person from consuming alcoholic beverages while on the premises. A person who consumes alcohol in violation of the provisions of the bill is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. (This bill is identical to SB 334.)

HB626 – Tobacco products tax; moist snuff. This bill changes the tax on moist snuff from 10 percent of the manufacturer’s sales price to $0.18 per ounce. The bill also will provide that loose leaf tobacco will be subject to the Commonwealth’s tobacco products tax on a unit and weight basis.  The provisions of the bill will become effective on January 1, 2011.

HB820 & SB476 – Cigarette tax; penalties for unstamped cigarettes. This bill changes the civil penalties for unstamped cigarettes as follows: $2.50 per pack, up to $500, for the first violation by a legal entity within a 36-month period; $5 per pack, up to $1,000, for the second violation by the legal entity within a 36-month period; and $10 per pack, up to $50,000, for the third or subsequent violation by the legal entity within a 36-month period.  If willful intent exists to defraud the Commonwealth, the penalty is $25 per pack, up to $250,000.  The same penalties apply to any person who sells, purchases, transports, receives, or possesses unstamped cigarettes.

HB874 – Cigarette tax; when to affix tax stamps. This bill changes the time for affixing tax stamps to cigarette packs from one business day after receipt of unstamped cigarettes to prior to shipping to other wholesale dealers or retail outlets.

HB1220 & SB395 – Stormwater management regulations; effective date. These bills delay the regulation that establishes local program criteria and delegation procedures and the water quantity criteria.  The regulation, however, shall be adopted within 280 days after the establishmen of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay-wide Total Maximum Daily Load, but no later than December 1, 2011. The bill also directs the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board to establish an advisory panel to review the regulation and make recommendations on possible revisions to the regulation. This bill incorporates HB1311 and HB155 (This bill is idential to SB395).

HB548 – Group health insurance policies; wellness programs. This bill allows group health insurance policies to provide a discount to employers who institute employee wellness programs. The bill also allows an employer instituting and maintaining an employee wellness program to require any employee wishing to enroll to undergo a health assessment as a condition of enrollment.

HB754 & SB441 – Prepaid wireless E-911 charges; collection by retailers. These bills establish the rate and procedures for the collection and remittance of prepaid wireless E-911 charges by dealers of prepaid wireless wireless service in the Commonwealth. The bill would establish a charge of $0.50 per retail purchase of prepaid wireless services that allow access to the 911 system. The dealer is required to remit prepaid wireless E-911 charges to the Department of Taxation, and liability for the charge is placed on the end user. The Department of Taxation woujld be required to establish guidelines implementing this measure, which shall include an exemption for smaller dealers. Dealers will be allowed to retain a discount of five percent of collected prepaid wireless E-911 charges. The provisions of the bill would apply to retail transactions occurring on or after January 1, 2011. (HB 754 is identical.)

HB1045 – Electronic filing of tax returns. This bill requires (i) tax prepares who file 50 or more individual income tax returns for taxable years that begin on or after January 1, 2010, to file all income tax returns electronically in subsequent taxable years; (ii) employers who furnish 150 or more withholding statements to employees for calendar year 2010, or 50 or more such statements for any calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2011, to file their annual report electronically; and (iii) dealers who elect to file consolidated sales tax returns for any taxable year and who are required to remit payment by electronic funds transfer, to file monthly returns electronically.

SB57 – Retail sales and use tax; countertops. This bill provides that dealers selling and installing countertops shall be deemed retailers for purposes of the sales and use tax. As a retailer, the dealer would be required to collect the tax from the customer. Under current law, dealers selling and installing countertops are deemed to be the ultimate users and consumers of the countertops and pay the sales and use tax instead of collecting it from customers.