July 2, 2019
Re: Notice of Jurisdiction
Taxpayer: *****
Locality Assessing Tax: *****
Local Food and Beverage Tax
Dear *****:
This notice of jurisdiction is issued upon the application for correction filed on behalf of your client, ***** (the “Taxpayer”), with the Department. The Taxpayer seeks abatement of assessments of local food and beverage tax issued to ***** (the “Company”) by ***** (the “City”) and converted to the Taxpayer.
The following determination is based on the facts presented to the Department summarized below. The Code of Virginia sections and public document cited are available on-line at www.tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules and Decisions section of the Department’s web site.
FACTS
Assessments of local food and beverage tax issued by the City to the Company went unpaid and were converted to the Taxpayer. The Taxpayer appealed to the Department, contending he was not a responsible party to which the assessments should have been converted.
ANALYSIS
Virginia Code § 58.1-3906 A provides that certain classes of individuals who willfully fail to pay, collect, or truthfully account for and pay over any local admission, transient occupancy, food and beverage, or daily rental property tax administered by a locality, or who willfully attempt to evade or defeat any such tax or payment thereof, shall be liable for a penalty equal to the amount of tax. Such individuals must have been officers or employees of corporations, or a member or employee of a partnership, or a member, manager or employee of a limited liability who was under a duty to perform the act in respect of which the violation occurred and who had actual knowledge of the failure or attempt and had authority to prevent such failure or attempt. See Virginia Code § 58.1-3906 B.
Virginia Code §§ 58.1-3703.1 and 58.1-3983.1 authorize the Department to consider appeals of final local determinations of certain taxes. The ability to file an administrative appeal to the Department for a local tax is limited to the following: BPOL tax, BTPP tax, machinery and tools tax, merchant's capital tax, local mobile property tax and consumer utility tax.
DETERMINATION
The Department is not authorized to consider appeals of the local food and beverage tax, commonly known as the meals tax. See Public Document (P.D.) 13-82 (5/29/2013). Therefore, I cannot issue a determination regarding whether the meals tax assessments were properly converted to the Taxpayer.
If you have any questions regarding this determination, you may contact ***** in the Department’s Office of Tax Policy, Appeals and Rulings, at *****.
Sincerely,
Craig M. Burns
Tax Commissioner
AR/2080.M