Business Tax Portal

Welcome to the Online Business Tax Portal Presented by the Commissioner of the Revenue for the City of Charlottesville.

Here, you will be able to perform many filing and payment functions related to your business tax account:

1.    File and pay for a business license renewal;

Businesses with an existing Charlottesville business license can use this portal to file and pay for your annual business license renewal. Business license renewals are due by March 1st of each year. 

Unfortunately, NEW license applications must still be processed by our staff.  You can complete that process in person by visiting our office or by submitting an application by mail or email.  Contact our office to determine proper license classification and tax or fee amount.  Visit our website for more information.

2.    File and pay Business Tangible Property Tax (or Machinery and Tools Tax);

All businesses located in the City of Charlottesville are required to file a Business Tangible Property Return (or Machinery and Tools Tax, as applicable) and provide an itemized list of all equipment utilized in the business as of January 1 of the current year. The return and list must be filed with the Commissioner of the Revenue on or before January 31 each year.  The business personal property tax is later billed in two installments:  the first installment is due June 5; the second installment is due December 5.  Once billed (you will receive a paper bill in the mail from the City Treasurer), you can pay the amount due on the business portal.  Visit our website for more information. 

3.    File and pay monthly Meals Tax;

Every business in the City of Charlottesville is required to collect a 6.5% tax on all prepared edible refreshments, nourishments, and liquids to include alcoholic beverages.  Meals Tax is to be reported and remitted on or before the 20th of the month following the month being reported.  New businesses should complete the Meals Tax Registration Form (PDF) and submit it to the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office via mail, email, or in person.  Visit our website for more information.

4.    File and pay monthly Transient Occupancy Tax;

Every lodging establishment in the City of Charlottesville offering lodging for compensation (for a period of less than 30 consecutive days), shall impose an 8% tax on the total price paid for lodging.  Transient Occupancy Tax is to be filed and remitted on or before the 20th of the month following the month being reported.  New businesses should complete the Transient Occupancy Tax Registration Form (PDF) and submit it to the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office via mail, email, or in person.  

Those using online rental platforms like Airbnb must report gross rental receipts, not the payout from the platform!  Due to a legislative change effective 09/01/2021, some third party intermediaries (such as VRBO) have begun collecting and remitting the local transient occupancy tax (8%) on behalf of each individual host.  As part of this process, we are requiring the host to file the gross rental receipts applicable to each rental platform monthly.  Visit our website for more information.

5.    File and pay quarterly Short-Term Daily Rental Tax:

Certain businesses engaged in the short term rental of tangible property pay a quarterly 1% tax on their gross receipts in lieu of traditional business tangible personal property tax.  Filings are due on the fifteenth of the month following the end of the reporting quarter, and payment is due on or before the last day of the month following the end of the reporting quarter.  Annually, businesses engaged in the short-term rental of tangible personal property should complete the Dealer’s Application for Certificate of Registration.

IMPORTANT NOTE – You cannot establish a business license account or create/register for a new business tax type through the portal.  New accounts must be created directly through our business tax office, either in-person, by phone, or by email.  Visit our website at www.charlottesville.gov/COR for more information.

Once an account has been created, you can file and pay any business taxes through the portal. 

In order to use the Online Business Tax Portal, you must read and accept the legal disclaimer:

After accepting the legal disclaimer, you must provide the following information in order to file and/or pay on your business account:

• Primary Mailing Address Zip Code for the account associated with your business;
• The Charlottesville Business License Account Number (the six digits before the dash – no leading zeros).
• The Social Security Number or Employer ID Number associated with the business (nine digits, no dashes).

To view your active accounts, click the View/File button:

This screen primarily contains contact information for your account as well as listing business licenses associated with your account.  If you encounter any incorrect information, please notify the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue via email or at 434-970-3170.

If necessary, scroll down to view more account information.  Click the “Continue” button to advance to your billable items.

From here, you can access all taxable items associated with your business license account: business license(s), monthly fiduciary taxes (meals and lodging), quarterly taxes, and business tangible personal property:

If a tax item contains an installment that has not been filed, it will indicate “Action Required”:

Items may be filtered according to Action Status:

In the “Actions” column, click “View/File in the drop-down box to reveal installments that are available to file:

From here, you can see a list of installments in any number of filing statuses.  Depending on the tax type, there may be one installment per year (ex: business license) or as many as twelve (ex: meals tax has twelve monthly installments per year).  Installments may be filtered by tax year or by filing status:

You must file the oldest unfiled installment first.  In order to file an installment, click the “View Filing” button next to that installment to advance to the Filing Page:

Once you file an installment, you will receive a confirmation email.  You cannot “re-file” once a filing has been submitted.  If you need to submit an amended return, you must call our business tax office at 434-970-3165 and submit a paper document.

If you just want to pay on installments that have already been filed, click the “Pay Online” button to advance to a page containing unpaid invoices (which will be discussed later):

Clicking the “View Filing” button brings you to a filing page.  This is where you would report gross receipts (for business license, monthly fiduciary taxes, or quarterly short-term daily rental taxes) or the value of acquisitions and/or disposals in a given year for business tangible personal property tax.

BUSINESS LICENSE FILING

Here we see the top of a filing page for a Business License:

The information required to complete a filing will vary depending on the tax type and/or the business classification.  Some filings also require documents to be uploaded through the portal.

MEALS TAX INSTALLMENT FILING

Here is the top of a filing page for a monthly meals tax installment:

TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX INSTALLMENT FILING

Here is the top of a filing page for a monthly transient occupancy tax installment:

SHORT-TERM DAILY RENTAL TAX INSTALLMENT FILING

Here is the top of a filing page for a quarterly short term rental tax installment:

BUSINESS TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY FILING

Here is the top of a filing page for Business Tangible Personal Property for a new business.  Note that one must enter the costs of acquisitions and disposals from the prior year.  Note also that an asset list must be uploaded for this filing to be complete:

Unlike other taxes that can be filed and paid using this portal, Business Tangible Personal Property Taxes are not immediately available for payment.  They are billed twice a year and due in June and December.  After filing, you will receive a bill in the mail which you can pay with a check, or you can return to the portal where the invoice will be ready for payment.

FILING CONFIRMATION

Once you have submitted the required data for your filing (including any necessary documents), scroll to the bottom of the page to confirm your filing.  You will need to provide your name, phone number, email, and click the check box certifying that the information you have provided is accurate.

Once you hit the “SUBMIT” button, an invoice is created, and a confirmation email will be sent to the email address specified.  You cannot “re-file” once a filing has been submitted.  If you need to submit an amended return, you must call our business tax office at 434-970-3165 and submit a paper document.

After hitting the “SUBMIT” button on a filing, you will be taken to a page displaying any unpaid invoices that await payment:

To pay an invoice, select the “shopping cart” button:

The button will turn from green to red and you will have an opportunity to select what amount you intend to pay (if not the full amount):

Note that for each invoice type, you must pay the oldest outstanding amount first.  If you attempt to select a more recent invoice for payment, the portal will automatically mark all prior invoices of that tax type for payment as well.

Once you have marked an invoice (or invoices for payment), the “Checkout Now” button will no longer be grayed out.  

Once you click it, the system will transfer you to our payment partner, Value Payment Systems, where you can select what type of credit card, e-check, or other electronic payment method you wish to use:

Select your preferred payment method and complete the transaction.