The Reseller Index
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Taxes / Seller's permits by state / Virginia

Do I need a seller's permit to sell on eBay or Poshmark in Virginia?

Generally no: Virginia Tax says that if all of your sales in Virginia are made through a marketplace facilitator's platform, you generally do not need to register to collect Virginia sales tax, because the facilitator is responsible for the tax on those sales. If you also sell outside a marketplace, you register when you meet the definition of a dealer, such as by selling from a location in Virginia or, from outside, with more than $100,000 or 200 or more direct Virginia transactions; anyone selling at Virginia fairs or flea markets must hold a certificate of registration, and the pages checked don't state a fee.

Virginia calls it a Sales Tax Certificate of Registration, issued by the Virginia Department of Taxation.

General information, not tax or legal advice. Check with a tax professional about your own situation.

Checked against the official pages listed below on .

Virginia in short

Sell only on marketplaces that collect the tax:
No: the state says registration is not required
Also sell direct (own site, Facebook, flea market):
Yes: the state says to register; fee not stated as one figure (see below)
Resale certificate:
Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (ST-10)
Garage and occasional sales:
Exempt: sales on three or fewer separate occasions within one calendar year
Where to register:
Virginia Tax Online Services (register for sales tax as an in-state or out-of-state dealer)

If you sell only on eBay, Poshmark and other marketplaces

If all of your sales in Virginia are conducted through a marketplace facilitator's platform, you are a marketplace seller and generally do not need to register to collect Virginia sales tax; the facilitator is responsible for the tax on sales through the marketplace. If you also sell to Virginia customers outside a marketplace and meet the remote seller threshold, you register and file for your direct sales only.

The rule: Va. Code § 58.1-612; Virginia Tax, Remote Sellers and Marketplace Facilitators.

"If all of your sales in Virginia are conducted through a marketplace facilitator's platform, you generally do not need to register to collect Virginia sales tax."
Virginia Department of Taxation, Remote Sellers, Marketplace Facilitators, and Economic Nexus, Marketplace sellers

Virginia's general sales tax rate depends on where the sale is made or the goods are received: 6% in Central Virginia, Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, 6.3% in eight localities such as Danville and Halifax County, 7% in James City County, Williamsburg and York County, and 5.3% everywhere else. A marketplace facilitator with more than $100,000 of annual gross retail sales or 200 or more transactions to Virginia customers registers and collects on the sales it facilitates.

Sources: Remote Sellers, Marketplace Facilitators, and Economic Nexus; Retail Sales and Use Tax.

If you also sell direct: your own site, Facebook, flea markets, consignment

An individual or company that meets the definition of a dealer under Va. Code § 58.1-612 generally must register, including in-state retailers selling from one or more physical locations in Virginia; a remote seller registers once its direct Virginia sales total more than $100,000 or 200 or more transactions in the previous or current calendar year. Anyone selling tangible personal property at fairs, flea markets, carnivals or circuses must hold a certificate of registration and collect the tax.

Fee:
The pages checked do not state a registration fee.
Register:
Virginia Tax Online Services (register for sales tax as an in-state or out-of-state dealer)
"Generally speaking, an individual or company who meets the definition of a dealer under Va. Code § 58.1-612 must register to collect and pay sales tax."
Virginia Department of Taxation, Retail Sales and Use Tax, Register for sales tax

Sources: Retail Sales and Use Tax; Remote Sellers, Marketplace Facilitators, and Economic Nexus; 23VAC10-210-570. Fairs, flea markets, circuses, carnivals, etc.

Resale certificate: buying inventory without paying sales tax

The form:
Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (ST-10)
Do you need your own permit to give one?
Yes: the state ties the certificate to the buyer's own permit or account number

Form ST-10 is for a Virginia dealer buying tangible personal property for resale, for lease or rental, or packaging materials that go to the buyer with the product; the dealer enters its Virginia account number and certifies that purchases from that supplier will be for the stated purpose. It stays in effect until revoked in writing, and the supplier needs only one properly executed certificate on file.

Thrift stores, estate sales and yard sales

Virginia's regulation says a person who buys an item in a transaction that is an occasional sale is not liable for use tax on that purchase.

"For use by a Virginia dealer who purchases tangible personal property for resale, or for lease or rental, or who purchases materials or containers to package tangible personal property for sale"
Virginia Department of Taxation, Form ST-10, Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Rev. 05/26)

Sources: Form ST-10, Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Rev. 05/26); 23VAC10-210-1080. Occasional sale.

Garage sales, yard sales and other occasional sales

Exempt: sales on three or fewer separate occasions within one calendar year. The tax doesn't apply to an occasional sale that isn't one of a series of sales sufficient in number, scope and character to require a certificate of registration; an occasional sale includes a sale by a person who sells on three or fewer separate occasions in a calendar year. Sales at fairs, flea markets, circuses and carnivals and by peddlers and street vendors are not occasional sales.

The rule: 23VAC10-210-1080; Va. Code §§ 58.1-203 and 58.1-609.10(2).

"A sale by a person who is engaged in sales on three or fewer separate occasions within one calendar year"
Virginia General Assembly, Division of Legislative Services (Virginia Law), 23VAC10-210-1080. Occasional sale, 23VAC10-210-1080(B)(1)

Sources: 23VAC10-210-1080. Occasional sale; 23VAC10-210-570. Fairs, flea markets, circuses, carnivals, etc.

Worked examples

Three yard sales vs. a flea market table

Holding yard sales on three separate occasions in a calendar year keeps you within the regulation's occasional sale definition. Renting a flea market table even once does not: the Department's flea market regulation says those sellers must hold a certificate of registration and collect tax.

A marketplace seller adding a website

A seller outside Virginia makes 150 Virginia sales through marketplaces and 60 through its own website in a year. Virginia counts only the direct sales for a marketplace seller's own registration, so 60 transactions is under the 200 test; at 200 or more direct transactions, or over $100,000, it would register and file for its direct sales only.

Tax on a $40 direct sale

A registered Virginia dealer sells a $40 taxable item outside a marketplace. At the 5.3% rate that applies outside the higher-rate regions the tax is $2.12; in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads or Central Virginia (6%) it is $2.40, and in Williamsburg (7%) $2.80.

Edge cases and details

  • Virginia's regulation lets the Department authorize fair, flea market and carnival operators to remit the tax collected by the people selling at their events.
  • A registered dealer can't claim the occasional sale exemption just because the item sold is a different kind of merchandise from what it normally sells; it must not have been held or used in the activity requiring registration.
  • When you register, Virginia Tax issues a 15-digit sales tax account number and a Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4), which must be displayed prominently at the registered location.
  • Form ST-10 can't be used to buy cigarettes for resale, or by a using or consuming construction contractor.
  • Virginia Tax sets a monthly or quarterly filing frequency from your tax liability; returns are due on the 20th of the month after the period, even with no sales to report, and must be filed electronically.

What to do

  1. Marketplace-only: confirm each marketplace collects Virginia tax; Virginia Tax says a seller whose Virginia sales all go through a marketplace facilitator's platform generally does not need to register.
  2. Selling from a Virginia location or at flea markets: register online with Virginia Tax before you start and display your Certificate of Registration.
  3. Buying inventory: give each supplier a completed Form ST-10 with your Virginia account number.
  4. If you hold sales on more than three occasions a year, or are unsure, Virginia's regulation encourages asking the Department for a written ruling.

Common questions

Do I need a Virginia sales tax account if I only sell on Etsy or eBay?

Virginia Tax says that if all your Virginia sales are made through a marketplace facilitator's platform, you generally don't need to register to collect Virginia sales tax.

Do I need to register for a one-day flea market in Virginia?

Yes. The regulation says anyone selling tangible personal property at fairs or flea markets must hold a certificate of registration, and those sales don't qualify as occasional sales.

Related

General information, not tax or legal advice

This page summarizes Virginia's own published pages, rules and statutes as read on . It doesn't say whether you must register, what you should file or whether you owe tax: that turns on your own sales, where you sell and what you buy. Rules change. Check with a tax professional, or ask the Virginia Department of Taxation directly.

Sources

Official pages this page is built from, with the day each was read.

Free 1-page Reseller Cheat Sheet: fees on 8 platforms, Media Mail and stamp prices

What each platform takes from a $10, $25 and $50 sale, Media Mail 1-10 lb, Ground Advantage to Zones 1, 5 and 8, and the Forever stamp, on one printable page. The link appears as soon as you sign up.