Virginia · Sales tax registration
Virginia sales tax registration, done for you.
Virginia sorts every registration into one of two dealer categories before anything else, and the one you fall into is visible forever in your account number. An in-state retailer sells from a physical location in Virginia and gets an account beginning 10. An out-of-state dealer, which Virginia also calls a remote seller, has no Virginia location but enough presence to create nexus, and gets an account beginning 12. Same department, same online registration, different category.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
Virginia Department of Taxation
- Handles:
- Retail sales and use tax, registered as either an in-state retailer or an out-of-state dealer
- System:
- VATAX Online Services
- Form:
- Register online as an in-state or out-of-state dealer. Form R-1 is the paper business registration and Virginia asks for it only when you cannot register online. Completing registration issues a 15 digit account number and the Sales Tax Certificate of Registration, Form ST-4. Returns from the April 2025 period onward are on the ST-1
- Phone:
- 804-367-8037
State fee. $0. Virginia sets out the whole registration process without naming a fee at any point, and none is charged to open the account. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing it.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to register
An in-state retailer registers before making taxable sales from its Virginia location. An out-of-state dealer registers on crossing either of two thresholds: more than $100,000 in annual Virginia gross sales, or 200 or more transactions to Virginia customers. Either one on its own is enough. If you sell through a marketplace facilitator, Virginia says you generally do not collect on sales made through that platform, though you may still need to register for your own sales made outside it. Whether a given activity is taxable is a question for your CPA, and we take the answer and file the registration.
What comes next
Worth deciding now: Virginia's registration can open several tax types at once, and every account you open keeps expecting returns until somebody closes it. Open what you need and nothing else.
How long it takes
Registering online issues the account number and the ST-4 certificate on completion, so there is no waiting period to plan around. Virginia publishes no turnaround for a mailed Form R-1, which is why we register online unless something forces the paper route.
What we do
We work out which accounts you need, submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per state, and any state fee passed through at cost. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes Virginia harder than average
- Two categories, and you pick one at registration. In-state retailer or out-of-state dealer, and the answer is stamped into your account number as a 10 or a 12. Businesses that later open a Virginia warehouse or fulfillment center have changed category, and the account they hold no longer describes them.
- Either threshold triggers it on its own. $100,000 in Virginia gross sales or 200 transactions to Virginia customers, measured annually. A low value, high volume seller reaches 200 transactions long before the dollar figure and is often surprised by which one caught them.
- The form everyone names no longer exists. From the April 2025 period the ST-1 replaced the ST-9, ST-8, ST-7, and ST-6, for every account type. Guidance, bookkeeping templates, and software field names still say ST-9 constantly. Note the ST-8 in that list: out-of-state dealers used to file their own return, so the returns merged while the registration categories stayed separate.
- Amendments run on the old forms. Correcting a period before April 2025 uses the form that applied then, so a business with an older correction is handling two form families at once.
- Registration opens more than you may want. It covers several tax types, so it can open payroll and others at the same time. Each one keeps expecting returns until it is closed.
How Virginia compares
If Virginia is one of several states on the list, the order you register in changes what each one asks for.
Questions and answers
Am I an in-state retailer or an out-of-state dealer?
It comes down to whether you have a physical location in Virginia, such as an office, warehouse, or fulfillment center. If you do, you register as an in-state retailer and your account begins with 10. If you do not, and you have enough presence to create nexus, you register as an out-of-state dealer and your account begins with 12. Tell us where you operate from and we will register the right one.
When does an out-of-state seller have to register?
Once you pass more than $100,000 in annual Virginia gross sales, or 200 or more transactions to Virginia customers. Either threshold on its own is enough.
I only sell through Amazon or a similar platform. Do I need this?
Virginia says you generally do not collect sales tax on sales made through a marketplace facilitator's platform, because the platform handles it. You may still need to register for any sales you make outside that platform. If you are not sure how your sales split, a CPA is the right person to confirm it.
Which return will I file after registering?
The ST-1, for any period from April 2025 onward, whatever your dealer category. It replaced the ST-9, ST-8, ST-7, and ST-6. A great deal of published guidance still refers to the ST-9, and out-of-state dealers will still see the ST-8 named in older material.
Is there a fee?
No. Virginia does not charge to register a sales tax account.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type, whether you have any physical presence in Virginia, what you sell, the date you crossed either threshold if you know it, and whether you need payroll accounts on the same registration.
Also in Virginia
Agency details verified 2026-08-09
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.