Roanoke, VA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- Exemption threshold
- $100,000 or less in gross receipts: $50 issuance fee only
- Contracting rate
- $0.16 per $100 of gross receipts
- Retail rate
- $0.20 per $100 of gross receipts
- Financial, real estate, professional
- $0.58 per $100 of gross receipts
- Repair, personal, business services
- $0.36 per $100 of gross receipts
- Tax base and due date
- Prior calendar year receipts, due March 1
- Classifying official
- Commissioner of the Revenue
Summary
Roanoke sorts every licensed business into a rate class under City Code § 19-45. A business grossing $100,000 or less pays only the $50 license issuance fee. Above $100,000, the tax runs on the whole prior calendar year's receipts, from $0.16 per $100 for contractors to $0.58 per $100 for financial, real estate and professional services.
any business with gross receipts of more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) shall be subject to a license tax based on the prior calendar year's gross receipts, including the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of such gross receipts, at the rate set forth below for each class of enterprise: (1) For contracting, and persons constructing for their own account for sale, sixteen cents ($0.16) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of gross receipts; ... b. All other retail sales, twenty cents ($0.20) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of gross receipts. c. Any person engaged in the short-term rental business as defined in section 58.1-3510, Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, shall be classified in the category of retail sales for license tax rate purposes. (3) For financial, real estate (except appraisers, brokers and salesman) and professional services, fifty-eight cents ($0.58) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of gross receipts; ... (4) For repair, personal and business services, and all other businesses and occupations not specifically listed or excepted in this chapter, thirty-six cents ($0.36) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of gross receipts;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 94 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Section 19-45 is the rate schedule for Roanoke's business license tax. Under subsection (a), a person whose gross receipts from a business, profession or occupation subject to licensure are $100,000 or less owes no license tax, only the license issuance fee under § 19-1.1, which is $50.00 for each license for each license year. Once gross receipts pass $100,000, subsection (b) taxes the entire prior calendar year's receipts, including the first $100,000, so crossing the line removes the exemption slice.
The code sets four main classes. Contracting, and persons constructing for their own account for sale, pay $0.16 per $100 of gross receipts. Retail sales pay $0.20 per $100, except mail order distribution centers, which pay $0.20 per $100 on the first $20,000,000, $0.05 per $100 on receipts between $20,000,000 and $40,000,000, and $0.01 per $100 above $40,000,000. A short-term rental business as defined in section 58.1-3510 of the Code of Virginia is classified as retail. Financial, real estate (except appraisers, brokers and salesmen) and professional services pay $0.58 per $100, while loan companies, installment paper and mortgage companies pay $0.50 per $100. Repair, personal and business services, and every other business not specifically listed or excepted, pay $0.36 per $100, and barber and beauty shops are set at that same $0.36.
Subsection (b)(5) gives a prime contractor that receives identifiable federal appropriations for research and development services a rate not to exceed $0.03 per $100 of federal funds received, once the contractor documents eligibility to the commissioner of revenue or finance officer. Under (b)(6), receipts classified that way and properly reported to another Virginia locality are not taxed again by any other locality.
The Commissioner of the Revenue does the sorting. Subsection (c) ties the category definitions to the State Department of Taxation guidelines under section 58.1-3701, subsection (d) directs the commissioner to place each applicant in one category or subcategory using those guidelines, and subsection (e) authorizes additional regulations for situations the guidelines leave open. Businesses licensed under the special sections 19-71 through 19-81.1 do not pay the $50 issuance fee.
Violations & Fines
Section 19-1.2(a) makes it unlawful to run a business that needs a license without first obtaining it, and § 19-51 makes a violation of article II a Class 3 misdemeanor, punished under section 18.2-11(c) of the Code of Virginia. Tax not paid by March 1 draws a 10 percent penalty under § 19-20(d), plus interest from the due date under § 19-20(g). The treasurer abates the penalty only when the taxpayer shows the failure was beyond the taxpayer's control.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I pay business license tax in Roanoke if I gross under $100,000?
Which Roanoke rate class applies to a short-term rental host?
What rate does Roanoke charge consultants, accountants and real estate firms?
Which year's receipts does Roanoke tax?
Who decides which category my Roanoke business falls in?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Roanoke
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