James City County, VA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

James City County Code § 12-21 sets the county's BPOL (business, professional and occupational license) rate structure. A business with gross receipts exceeding $4,000.00 but under $50,000.00 pays a flat $30.00 annual license fee; one with receipts of at least $50,000.00 but under $100,000.00 pays a flat $50.00 fee. Above $100,000.00 in gross receipts, the business pays either a $50.00 fee or the percentage rate for its classification, whichever is greater. The classifications and rates are: contractors and those constructing for their own account for sale, $0.16 per $100.00 of gross receipts; retailers, $0.20 per $100.00; financial, real estate and professional services, $0.58 per $100.00; repair, personal and business services and any other unlisted business, $0.36 per $100.00; wholesalers, $0.05 per $100.00 of purchases; carnivals, circuses and speedways, $100.00 per performance; fortune tellers, clairvoyants and palmistry practitioners, $1,000.00 per year; massage clinics or therapists, $0.36 per $100.00 of gross receipts; itinerant merchants or peddlers, $500.00 per year; dealers in precious metals, $0.20 per $100.00; coliseums, arenas or auditoriums over 10,000-person capacity, $1,000.00 per year; savings and loan associations, $50.00 per year; and wholesale druggist licenses, $10.00 per year.

Gross receipts are aggregated across all licensable enterprises at a single place of business. Section 12-17 governs where those gross receipts are attributed when a business operates from more than one definite place of business, using rules tailored to contractors, retailers, wholesalers, personal-property renters and personal-service providers. A license under this section is not proratable or transferable.