§ 58.1-2273 Willful commission of prohibited acts; criminal penalties
Any person who willfully commits any of the following acts, with the intent to (i) evade or circumvent the Commonwealth’s fuels tax laws or (ii) assist any other person in efforts to evade or circumvent such laws, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony, if he:
1. Alters, manipulates, replaces, or in any other manner tampers or interferes with, or causes to be altered, manipulated, replaced, tampered or interfered with, a totalizer attached to fuel pumps to measure the dispensing of fuel;
2. Does not pay fuels taxes and diverts such tax proceeds for other purposes;
3. Is a licensee or the agent or representative of a licensee, converts or attempts to convert fuel tax proceeds for the use of the licensee or the licensee’s agent or representative, with the intent to defraud the Commonwealth;
4. Illegally collects fuel taxes when not authorized or licensed by the Commissioner to do so;
6. Conspires with any other person or persons to engage in an act, plan, or scheme to defraud the Commonwealth of fuels tax proceeds;
7. Uses any dyed diesel fuel for a use that the user knows or has reason to know is a taxable use of the fuel, or sells any dyed diesel fuel to a person who the seller knows or has reason to know will use the fuel for a taxable purpose; however, if the amount of fuel involved is not more than twenty gallons, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor;
8. Alters or attempts to alter the strength or composition of any dye or marker in any dyed diesel fuel intended to be used for a taxable purpose;
9. Fails to remit to the Commissioner any tax levied pursuant to this chapter, if he (i) has added, or represented that he has added, the tax to the sales price for the fuel and (ii) has collected the amount of the tax;
10. Applies for or collects from the Department a refund for fuels tax when the person knows or has reason to know that fuel for which the refund is claimed has been or will be used for a taxable purpose; however, if the amount of fuel involved is not more than 20 gallons, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor; or
11. Uses any fuel for a taxable purpose for which the person knows or has reason to know that a refund of fuels tax has been issued; however, if the amount of fuel involved is not more than 20 gallons, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
History
This law was first created in 2000. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapters 729 and 758 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 2006, chapter 594.
2000, cc. 729, 758; 2006, c. 594.