Tax Type
BPOL Tax
Description
Mobile home retailer
Topic
Local Power to Tax
Date Issued
02-04-1997
February 4, 1997
Re: Request for advisory Opinion: BPOL
Dear****************
This will respond to your letter transmitted by fax on January 27, 1997 requesting an advisory opinion.
The license tax is a local tax which is imposed and administered by local officials. The Code of Virginia limits the involvement of the Department of Taxation to promulgating guidelines and issuing advisory opinions. This response is intended to provide guidance only and does not constitute a formal or binding ruling.
FACTS
A mobile home dealer sells single and double wide mobile homes to residents of********* County. The dealer's offices, display lot, and inventory are all in an adjacent locality. The dealer has no office or sales personnel in******* and all sales are made at the dealership outside of********** County. The dealer does, however, enter ****or delivery and setup. Setup of the mobile homes consists of grading the site, laying mortar and block piers for support, and installing skirting around the base of the home.
OPINION
The mobile home dealer should be classified as a retailer for business license purposes. In order to be subject to the local license tax in *********, the dealer must have a definite place of business there. This means that it must have had an office or other location in at which the taxpayer has conducted the business of retailing mobile homes for 30 continuous days or more. From the facts presented, it appears that the mobile home dealer has no definite place business in **********. All sales activity takes place at the dealer's location outside of the County. Under these facts the dealer would not be subject licensure in your jurisdiction.
The delivery and setup of mobile homes in your jurisdiction would be ancillary to the business of mobile homes retailing conducted by the dealer and thus would be subjection to taxation only at the definite place business in the adjacent county.
I hope that the above information will be beneficial to you. Although I believe this letter conforms with the law, it is written only for your guidance. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,
Danny M. Payne
Tax Commissioner
OTP/12101
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner