Newport News, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

(a)Every person who conducts or engages in the business of dealing in secondhand paper or junk materials shall annually pay a license tax of two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225.00). No such license shall be issued for the purpose of dealing in junk materials unless and until there is presented to the commissioner a certificate from the Newport News City Council and from the Newport News Circuit Court permitting the operation of this business.(b)Every person acting as a canvasser for the purpose of buying secondhand paper, junk or other things for any junk dealer, or for sale to a junk dealer, shall annually pay a license tax of sixty-five dollars ($65.00).(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt any employee of such secondhand paper or junk dealer, acting as a canvasser, from the payment of a canvasser's license. In the case where a canvasser is a bona fide employee of a secondhand paper or junk dealer, such dealer or employer shall be held liable for the payment of the canvasser's license tax. (Ord. No. 4969-96, § 1)