                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 58.1-602)

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly shows otherwise:
		&#8220;Accommodations&#8221; means any room or rooms, lodgings, or
accommodations in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, camping
grounds, club, short-term rental, or any other place in which rooms, lodging,
space, or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients for a
consideration. &#8220;Accommodations&#8221; does not include rooms or space
offered by a person in the business of providing conference rooms, meeting
space, or event space if the person does not also offer rooms available for
overnight sleeping.
		&#8220;Accommodations fee&#8221; means the room charge less the discount room
charge, if any, provided that the accommodations fee shall not be less than $0.
		&#8220;Accommodations intermediary&#8221; means any person other than an
accommodations provider that (i) facilitates the sale of an accommodation and
(ii) either (a) charges a room charge to the customer, and charges an
accommodations fee to the customer, which fee it retains as compensation for
facilitating the sale; (b) collects a room charge from the customer; or (c)
charges a fee, other than an accommodations fee, to the customer, which fee it
retains as compensation for facilitating the sale. For purposes of this
definition, &#8220;facilitates the sale&#8221; includes brokering, coordinating,
or in any other way arranging for the purchase of the right to use
accommodations via a transaction directly, including via one or more payment
processors, between a customer and an accommodations provider.
		&#8220;Accommodations intermediary&#8221; does not include a person:

1. If the accommodations are provided by an accommodations provider operating
under a trademark, trade name, or service mark belonging to such person;

2. Who facilitates the sale of an accommodation if (i) the price paid by the
customer to such person is equal to the price paid by such person to the
accommodations provider for the use of the accommodations and (ii) the only
compensation received by such person for facilitating the sale of the
accommodation is a commission paid from the accommodations provider to such
person; or

3. Who is licensed as a real estate licensee pursuant to Article 1 (&#xA7;
54.1-2100 et seq.) of Chapter 21 of Title 54.1, when acting within the scope of
such license.
			&#8220;Accommodations provider&#8221; means any person that furnishes
accommodations to the general public for compensation. The term
&#8220;furnishes&#8221; includes the sale of use or possession or the sale of
the right to use or possess.
			&#8220;Advertising&#8221; means the planning, creating, or placing of
advertising in newspapers, magazines, billboards, broadcasting and other media,
including, without limitation, the providing of concept, writing, graphic
design, mechanical art, photography and production supervision. Any person
providing advertising as defined in this section shall be deemed to be the user
or consumer of all tangible personal property purchased for use in such
advertising.
			&#8220;Affiliate&#8221; means the same as such term is defined in &#xA7;
58.1-439.18.
			&#8220;Amplification, transmission, distribution, and network
equipment&#8221; means production, distribution, and other equipment used to
provide Internet-access services, such as computer and communications equipment
and software used for storing, processing, and retrieving end-user
subscribers&#8217; requests. A &#8220;network&#8221; includes modems, fiber
optic cables, coaxial cables, radio equipment, routing equipment, switching
equipment, a cable modem termination system, associated software, transmitters,
power equipment, storage devices, servers, multiplexers, and antennas, which
network is used to provide Internet service, regardless of whether the provider
of such service is also a telephone common carrier or whether such network is
also used to provide services other than Internet services.
			&#8220;Business&#8221; includes any activity engaged in by any person, or
caused to be engaged in by him, with the object of gain, benefit or advantage,
either directly or indirectly.
			&#8220;Cost price&#8221; means the actual cost of an item or article of
tangible personal property computed in the same manner as the sales price as
defined in this section without any deductions therefrom on account of the cost
of materials used, labor, or service costs, transportation charges, or any
expenses whatsoever.
			&#8220;Custom program&#8221; means a computer program that is specifically
designed and developed only for one customer. The combining of two or more
prewritten programs does not constitute a custom computer program. A prewritten
program that is modified to any degree remains a prewritten program and does not
become custom.
			&#8220;Discount room charge&#8221; means the full amount charged by the
accommodations provider to the accommodations intermediary, or an affiliate
thereof, for furnishing the accommodations.
			&#8220;Distribution&#8221; means the transfer or delivery of tangible
personal property for use, consumption, or storage by the distributee, and the
use, consumption, or storage of tangible personal property by a person that has
processed, manufactured, refined, or converted such property, but does not
include the transfer or delivery of tangible personal property for resale or any
use, consumption, or storage otherwise exempt under this chapter.
			&#8220;Gross proceeds&#8221; means the charges made or voluntary
contributions received for the lease or rental of tangible personal property or
for furnishing services, computed with the same deductions, where applicable, as
for sales price as defined in this section over the term of the lease, rental,
service, or use, but not less frequently than monthly. &#8220;Gross
proceeds&#8221; does not include finance charges, carrying charges, service
charges, or interest from credit extended on the lease or rental of tangible
personal property under conditional lease or rental contracts or other
conditional contracts providing for the deferred payments of the lease or rental
price.
			&#8220;Gross sales&#8221; means the sum total of all retail sales of tangible
personal property or services as defined in this chapter, without any deduction,
except as provided in this chapter. &#8220;Gross sales&#8221; does not include
the federal retailers&#8217; excise tax or the federal diesel fuel excise tax
imposed in &#xA7; 4091 of the Internal Revenue Code if the excise tax is billed
to the purchaser separately from the selling price of the article, or the
Virginia retail sales or use tax, or any sales or use tax imposed by any county
or city under &#xA7; 58.1-605 or 58.1-606.
			&#8220;Import&#8221; and &#8220;imported&#8221; are words applicable to
tangible personal property imported into the Commonwealth from other states as
well as from foreign countries, and &#8220;export&#8221; and
&#8220;exported&#8221; are words applicable to tangible personal property
exported from the Commonwealth to other states as well as to foreign countries.
			&#8220;In this Commonwealth&#8221; or &#8220;in the Commonwealth&#8221; means
within the limits of the Commonwealth of Virginia and includes all territory
within these limits owned by or ceded to the United States of America.
			&#8220;Integrated process,&#8221; when used in relation to semiconductor
manufacturing, means a process that begins with the research or development of
semiconductor products, equipment, or processes, includes the handling and
storage of raw materials at a plant site, and continues to the point that the
product is packaged for final sale and either shipped or conveyed to a
warehouse. Without limiting the foregoing, any semiconductor equipment, fuel,
power, energy, supplies, or other tangible personal property shall be deemed
used as part of the integrated process if its use contributes, before, during,
or after production, to higher product quality, production yields, or process
efficiencies. Except as otherwise provided by law, &#8220;integrated
process&#8221; does not mean general maintenance or administration.
			&#8220;Internet&#8221; means, collectively, the myriad of computer and
telecommunications facilities, which comprise the interconnected worldwide
network of computer networks that employ the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor to such protocol, to
communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.
			&#8220;Internet service&#8221; means a service that enables users to access
content, information, and other services offered over the Internet.
			&#8220;Lease or rental&#8221; means the leasing or renting of tangible
personal property and the possession or use thereof by the lessee or renter for
a consideration, without transfer of the title to such property.
			&#8220;Manufacturing, processing, refining, or conversion&#8221; includes the
production line of the plant starting with the handling and storage of raw
materials at the plant site and continuing through the last step of production
where the product is finished or completed for sale and conveyed to a warehouse
at the production site, and also includes equipment and supplies used for
production line testing and quality control. &#8220;Manufacturing&#8221; also
includes the necessary ancillary activities of newspaper and magazine printing
when such activities are performed by the publisher of any newspaper or magazine
for sale daily or regularly at average intervals not exceeding three months.
			The determination of whether any manufacturing, mining, processing, refining
or conversion activity is industrial in nature shall be made without regard to
plant size, existence or size of finished product inventory, degree of
mechanization, amount of capital investment, number of employees or other
factors relating principally to the size of the business. Further,
&#8220;industrial in nature&#8221; includes, but is not limited to, those
businesses classified in codes 10 through 14 and 20 through 39 published in the
Standard Industrial Classification Manual for 1972 and any supplements issued
thereafter.
			&#8220;Modular building&#8221; means, but is not limited to, single and
multifamily houses, apartment units, commercial buildings, and permanent
additions thereof, comprised of one or more sections that are intended to become
real property, primarily constructed at a location other than the permanent
site, built to comply with the Virginia Industrialized Building Safety Law
(&#xA7; 36-70 et seq.) as regulated by the Virginia Department of Housing and
Community Development, and shipped with most permanent components in place to
the site of final assembly. For purposes of this chapter, &#8220;modular
building&#8221; does not include a mobile office as defined in &#xA7; 58.1-2401
or any manufactured building subject to and certified under the provisions of
the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 5401 et seq.).
			&#8220;Modular building manufacturer&#8221; means a person that owns or
operates a manufacturing facility and is engaged in the fabrication,
construction and assembling of building supplies and materials into modular
buildings, as defined in this section, at a location other than at the site
where the modular building will be assembled on the permanent foundation and may
or may not be engaged in the process of affixing the modules to the foundation
at the permanent site.
			&#8220;Modular building retailer&#8221; means any person that purchases or
acquires a modular building from a modular building manufacturer, or from
another person, for subsequent sale to a customer residing within or outside of
the Commonwealth, with or without installation of the modular building to the
foundation at the permanent site.
			&#8220;Motor vehicle&#8221; means a &#8220;motor vehicle&#8221; as defined in
&#xA7; 58.1-2401, taxable under the provisions of the Virginia Motor Vehicles
Sales and Use Tax Act (&#xA7; 58.1-2400 et seq.) and upon the sale of which all
applicable motor vehicle sales and use taxes have been paid.
			&#8220;Occasional sale&#8221; means a sale of tangible personal property not
held or used by a seller in the course of an activity for which it is required
to hold a certificate of registration, including the sale or exchange of all or
substantially all the assets of any business and the reorganization or
liquidation of any business, provided that such sale or exchange is not one of a
series of sales and exchanges sufficient in number, scope and character to
constitute an activity requiring the holding of a certificate of registration.
			&#8220;Open video system&#8221; means an open video system authorized
pursuant to 47 U.S.C. &#xA7; 573 and, for purposes of this chapter only, also
includes Internet service regardless of whether the provider of such service is
also a telephone common carrier.
			&#8220;Person&#8221; includes any individual, firm, copartnership,
cooperative, nonprofit membership corporation, joint venture, association,
corporation, estate, trust, business trust, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver,
auctioneer, syndicate, assignee, club, society, or other group or combination
acting as a unit, body politic or political subdivision, whether public or
private, or quasi-public, and the plural of &#8220;person&#8221; means the same
as the singular.
			&#8220;Prewritten program&#8221; means a computer program that is prepared,
held or existing for general or repeated sale or lease, including a computer
program developed for in-house use and subsequently sold or leased to unrelated
third parties.
			&#8220;Qualifying locality&#8221; means Charlotte County, Gloucester County,
Halifax County, Henry County, Mecklenburg County, Northampton County, Patrick
County, Pittsylvania County, or the City of Danville.
			&#8220;Railroad rolling stock&#8221; means locomotives, of whatever motive
power, autocars, railroad cars of every kind and description, and all other
equipment determined by the Tax Commissioner to constitute railroad rolling
stock.
			&#8220;Remote seller&#8221; means any dealer deemed to have sufficient
activity within the Commonwealth to require registration under &#xA7; 58.1-613
under the criteria specified in subdivision C 10 or 11 of &#xA7; 58.1-612 or any
software provider acting on behalf of such dealer.
			&#8220;Retail sale&#8221; or a &#8220;sale at retail&#8221; means a sale to
any person for any purpose other than for resale in the form of tangible
personal property or services taxable under this chapter, and shall include any
such transaction as the Tax Commissioner upon investigation finds to be in lieu
of a sale. All sales for resale must be made in strict compliance with
regulations applicable to this chapter. Any dealer making a sale for resale
which is not in strict compliance with such regulations shall be personally
liable for payment of the tax.
			The terms &#8220;retail sale&#8221; and a &#8220;sale at retail&#8221;
specifically include the following: (i) the sale or charges for any
accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days; (ii)
sales of tangible personal property to persons for resale when because of the
operation of the business, or its very nature, or the lack of a place of
business in which to display a certificate of registration, or the lack of a
place of business in which to keep records, or the lack of adequate records, or
because such persons are minors or transients, or because such persons are
engaged in essentially service businesses, or for any other reason there is
likelihood that the Commonwealth will lose tax funds due to the difficulty of
policing such business operations; (iii) the separately stated charge made for
automotive refinish repair materials that are permanently applied to or affixed
to a motor vehicle during its repair; and (iv) the separately stated charge for
equipment available for lease or purchase by a provider of satellite television
programming to the customer of such programming. Equipment sold to a provider of
satellite television programming for subsequent lease or purchase by the
customer of such programming shall be deemed a sale for resale. The Tax
Commissioner is authorized to promulgate regulations requiring vendors of or
sellers to such persons to collect the tax imposed by this chapter on the cost
price of such tangible personal property to such persons and may refuse to issue
certificates of registration to such persons. The terms &#8220;retail
sale&#8221; and a &#8220;sale at retail&#8221; also specifically include the
separately stated charge made for supplies used during automotive repairs
whether or not there is transfer of title or possession of the supplies and
whether or not the supplies are attached to the automobile. The purchase of such
supplies by an automotive repairer for sale to the customer of such repair
services shall be deemed a sale for resale.
			The term &#8220;transient&#8221; does not include a purchaser of camping
memberships, time-shares, condominiums, or other similar contracts or interests
that permit the use of, or constitute an interest in, real estate, however
created or sold and whether registered with the Commonwealth or not. Further, a
purchaser of a right or license which entitles the purchaser to use the
amenities and facilities of a specific real estate project on an ongoing basis
throughout its term shall not be deemed a transient, provided, however, that the
term or time period involved is for seven years or more.
			The terms &#8220;retail sale&#8221; and &#8220;sale at retail&#8221; do not
include a transfer of title to tangible personal property after its use as
tools, tooling, machinery or equipment, including dies, molds, and patterns, if
(i) at the time of purchase, the purchaser is obligated, under the terms of a
written contract, to make the transfer and (ii) the transfer is made for the
same or a greater consideration to the person for whom the purchaser
manufactures goods.
			&#8220;Retailer&#8221; means every person engaged in the business of making
sales at retail, or for distribution, use, consumption, or storage to be used or
consumed in the Commonwealth.
			&#8220;Room charge&#8221; means the full retail price charged to the customer
for the use of the accommodations before taxes. &#8220;Room charge&#8221;
includes any fee charged to the customer and retained as compensation for
facilitating the sale, whether described as an accommodations fee, facilitation
fee, or any other name. The room charge shall be determined in accordance with
23VAC10-210-730 and the related rulings of the Department on the same.
			&#8220;Sale&#8221; means any transfer of title or possession, or both,
exchange, barter, lease or rental, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by
any means whatsoever, of tangible personal property and any rendition of a
taxable service for a consideration, and includes the fabrication of tangible
personal property for consumers who furnish, either directly or indirectly, the
materials used in fabrication, and the furnishing, preparing, or serving for a
consideration of any tangible personal property consumed on the premises of the
person furnishing, preparing, or serving such tangible personal property. A
transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred but the seller
retains title as security for the payment of the price shall be deemed a sale.
			&#8220;Sales price&#8221; means the total amount for which tangible personal
property or services are sold, including any services that are a part of the
sale, valued in money, whether paid in money or otherwise, and includes any
amount for which credit is given to the purchaser, consumer, or lessee by the
dealer, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property
sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, losses or any other
expenses whatsoever. &#8220;Sales price&#8221; does not include (i) any cash
discount allowed and taken; (ii) finance charges, carrying charges, service
charges or interest from credit extended on sales of tangible personal property
under conditional sale contracts or other conditional contracts providing for
deferred payments of the purchase price; (iii) separately stated local property
taxes collected; (iv) that portion of the amount paid by the purchaser as a
discretionary gratuity added to the price of a meal; or (v) that portion of the
amount paid by the purchaser as a mandatory gratuity or service charge added by
a restaurant to the price of a meal, but only to the extent that such mandatory
gratuity or service charge does not exceed 20 percent of the price of the meal.
Where used articles are taken in trade, or in a series of trades as a credit or
part payment on the sale of new or used articles, the tax levied by this chapter
shall be paid on the net difference between the sales price of the new or used
articles and the credit for the used articles.
			&#8220;Semiconductor cleanrooms&#8221; means the integrated systems,
fixtures, piping, partitions, flooring, lighting, equipment, and all other
property used to reduce contamination or to control airflow, temperature,
humidity, vibration, or other environmental conditions required for the
integrated process of semiconductor manufacturing.
			&#8220;Semiconductor equipment&#8221; means (i) machinery or tools or repair
parts or replacements thereof; (ii) the related accessories, components,
pedestals, bases, or foundations used in connection with the operation of the
equipment, without regard to the proximity to the equipment, the method of
attachment, or whether the equipment or accessories are affixed to the realty;
(iii) semiconductor wafers and other property or supplies used to install, test,
calibrate or recalibrate, characterize, condition, measure, or maintain the
equipment and settings thereof; and (iv) equipment and supplies used for quality
control testing of product, materials, equipment, or processes; or the
measurement of equipment performance or production parameters regardless of
where or when the quality control, testing, or measuring activity takes place,
how the activity affects the operation of equipment, or whether the equipment
and supplies come into contact with the product.
			&#8220;Short-term rental&#8221; means the same as such term is defined in
&#xA7; 15.2-983.
			&#8220;Storage&#8221; means any keeping or retention of tangible personal
property for use, consumption or distribution in the Commonwealth, or for any
purpose other than sale at retail in the regular course of business.
			&#8220;Tangible personal property&#8221; means personal property that may be
seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched, or is in any other manner perceptible
to the senses. &#8220;Tangible personal property&#8221; does not include stocks,
bonds, notes, insurance or other obligations or securities. &#8220;Tangible
personal property&#8221; includes (i) telephone calling cards upon their initial
sale, which shall be exempt from all other state and local utility taxes, and
(ii) manufactured signs.
			&#8220;Use&#8221; means the exercise of any right or power over tangible
personal property incident to the ownership thereof, except that it does not
include the sale at retail of that property in the regular course of business.
&#8220;Use&#8221; does not include the exercise of any right or power, including
use, distribution, or storage, over any tangible personal property sold to a
nonresident donor for delivery outside of the Commonwealth to a nonresident
recipient pursuant to an order placed by the donor from outside the Commonwealth
via mail or telephone. &#8220;Use&#8221; does not include any sale determined to
be a gift transaction, subject to tax under &#xA7; 58.1-604.6.
			&#8220;Use tax&#8221; refers to the tax imposed upon the use, consumption,
distribution, and storage as defined in this section.
			&#8220;Used directly,&#8221; when used in relation to manufacturing,
processing, refining, or conversion, refers to those activities that are an
integral part of the production of a product, including all steps of an
integrated manufacturing or mining process, but not including ancillary
activities such as general maintenance or administration. When used in relation
to mining, &#8220;used directly&#8221; refers to the activities specified in
this definition and, in addition, any reclamation activity of the land
previously mined by the mining company required by state or federal law.
			&#8220;Video programmer&#8221; means a person that provides video programming
to end-user subscribers.
			&#8220;Video programming&#8221; means video and/or information programming
provided by or generally considered comparable to programming provided by a
cable operator, including, but not limited to, Internet service.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 58-441.2, 58-441.3, 58-441.6; 1966, c. 151; 1972, c.
680; 1973, c. 313; 1974, c. 431; 1976, cc. 375, 489, 666, 712, 764, 770; 1977,
cc. 247, 504; 1978, cc. 50, 82, 181, 505, 656, 665, 706, 784, 819; 1979, cc.
148, 205, 555, 556, 557, 558, 561, 562, 564, 572, 575; 1980, cc. 81, 610, 611,
617, 618, 621, 631, 753, 756; 1981, cc. 398, 400, 405, 409, 416, 599; 1982, cc.
533, 546, 547, 636, 649; 1983, cc. 100, 184, 384, 414, 557, 565, 599; 1984, cc.
419, 522, 675, 683, 690, 693; 1985, c. 473; 1986, c. 22; 1988, c. 899; 1989, cc.
581, 739; 1995, c. 96; 1999, cc. 138, 187, 723, 981; 2000, c. 425; 2004, c. 60;
2005, cc. 121, 122, 355; 2006, cc. 519, 541, 568, 602; 2007, c. 751; 2013, cc.
766, 783; 2014, c. 359; 2015, c. 252; 2017, c. 104; 2018, cc. 838, 840; 2019,
cc. 815, 816, 854; 2020, cc. 327, 427, 428, 705, 708, 865; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c.
383; 2022, cc. 7, 154, 434, 435, 640.