Virginia · Sales tax registration
Virginia sales tax registration, done for you.
Form R-1 is Virginia's general business registration, so the same document that opens a payroll account opens a sales tax account. Two things to get right: tick only what you need, and know that the return you will actually file is the ST-1, not the ST-9 that most guidance still names.
Who you are dealing with
Virginia Department of Taxation
- Handles:
- Retail sales and use tax, and other tax types on the same registration
- System:
- VATAX Online Services
- Form:
- Form R-1, the Virginia business registration. Returns from the April 2025 filing period onward are on the ST-1, which replaced the ST-9, ST-8, ST-7, and ST-6
- Phone:
- 804-367-8037
State fee. $0 to register. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing the registration.
When you have to register
Register before making taxable sales in Virginia. Whether your activity is taxable is a question for your CPA; we take the answer and file the registration.
What comes next
Not applicable to a registration. For later: closing is a checkbox on the return, or Form R-3, and it is easy to file a perfectly good final return without ticking it and close nothing.
How long it takes
Virginia does not publish a registration turnaround we could confirm. What it does publish, at the other end, is an instruction to wait seven business days after a closure and then phone to confirm. That is a state that expects verification rather than assumption, and it is worth applying the same habit here.
What we do
We work out exactly which accounts you need, prepare and submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per account, and any state fee passed through at cost.
What makes Virginia harder than average
- The form everyone names no longer exists. From the April 2025 filing 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.
- 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 to make is handling two form families at once.
- The R-1 opens more than you may want. It is the general business registration rather than a sales-tax-only form, so it can open payroll and other accounts at the same time. Every account you open keeps expecting returns until it is closed.
- Closing is a checkbox, which is why accounts stay open. The same casualness that makes closure easy makes it forgettable. Worth knowing at registration, because it is the moment you decide how many accounts you will eventually have to close.
Questions and answers
Which return will I file after registering?
The ST-1, for any period from April 2025 onward, whatever your account type. It replaced the ST-9, ST-8, ST-7, and ST-6. A great deal of published guidance still refers to the ST-9.
Does the R-1 register me for payroll too?
It can. The R-1 is Virginia's general business registration and covers several tax types. Only tick what you actually need, because each account keeps expecting returns until it is closed.
Is there a fee?
No. Virginia does not charge to register a sales tax account.
How long does it take?
Virginia does not publish a registration turnaround we could verify with the agency, so we will not quote one. We register ahead of when you need it.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type, Virginia locations, what you sell, the date taxable sales begin, and whether you need payroll accounts on the same registration.
Agency details verified 2026-08-03