Alexandria, VA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- Professional services rate
- $0.58 per $100 of gross receipts
- Retail merchants rate
- $0.20 per $100 of gross receipts
- Wholesale merchants rate
- $0.05 per $100 of purchases
- Contractors rate
- $0.16 per $100 of gross receipts
- Minimum license tax
- $50 flat, under $100,000 receipts
- Out-of-city contractor threshold
- Exempt below $25,000 in-city receipts
Summary
Alexandria's BPOL license tax sorts every business into a class, professional services, financial services, retail and wholesale merchants, contractors and more, and taxes each class at its own per-$100-of-receipts rate under City Code Secs. 9-1-71 through 9-1-88, with a $50 flat minimum below $100,000 in receipts.
Every person who conducts or operates a business that provides professional services in, and who maintains a definite place of business in, the city shall pay for the privilege of doing so an annual license tax of $50 or, if the business' annual gross receipts with situs in the city equal or exceed $100,000, $0.58 per $100 of all the business' gross receipts with such situs.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 156 | Zoning: Supplement 103).
Full Breakdown
Alexandria's Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax, codified in Title 9, Chapter 1, Article C of the City Code, assigns every business a classification and taxes each one at its own per-$100-of-gross-receipts rate once gross receipts with situs in the city reach $100,000; below that threshold, every classification pays a flat $50 minimum license tax. 58 per $100 of gross receipts (Sec. 35 per $100 (Sec. 35 per $100 (Sec. 20 per $100 (Sec. 05 per $100 of purchases, not sales (Sec. 16 per $100 of gross receipts (Sec.
9-1-79). A business operating in more than one class, such as a merchant who is both retail and wholesale, must hold both license classes under Sec. 9-1-77, though a retailer may instead elect to report wholesale sales under its retail license. Contractors headquartered outside the city, or present fewer than 30 days, owe nothing unless their in-city gross receipts exceed $25,000 for the year; above that they pay the standard contractor rate and must certify workers' compensation coverage to the director of finance under Sec. 9-1-79(e). 50 per $100 of rental receipts under Sec. 16 per $100 under Sec. 9-1-102.
Violations & Fines
Operating a business in Alexandria without the required BPOL license exposes the owner to prosecution: the director of finance's office investigates unlicensed operators monthly and reports each one under Sec. 9-1-39, then may initiate prosecution under Sec. 9-1-40. Contractors face an added penalty: knowingly filing a false workers'-compensation certification under Sec. 9-1-79(e) is a class 3 misdemeanor. Suspected underreporting of gross receipts triggers the review-and-investigation process in Sec. 9-1-38, which forwards evidence to the city attorney for prosecution.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tax rate does a professional services business pay in Alexandria?
How is a retail merchant taxed differently from a wholesale merchant?
Do contractors based outside Alexandria owe the license tax?
What happens if I operate a business in Alexandria without a license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Alexandria
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