Which services are taxable in Virginia?

The service charges Virginia does reach in Virginia: Accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days — § 58.1-602 writes this into the definition of "retail sale" and § 58.1-603(4) taxes the gross proceeds; Fabrication of tangible personal property for consumers who furnish, directly or indirectly, the materials used — § 58.1-602 puts fabrication inside the definition of "sale"; The separately stated charge for automotive refinish repair materials permanently applied to a motor vehicle during its repair — § 58.1-602; The separately stated charge for supplies used during automotive repairs, whether or not title or possession of the supplies transfers and whether or not they are attached to the vehicle — § 58.1-602. The full list on this page is drawn from Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.5 — Service exemptions (all ten subdivisions), retrieved 2026-07-31.

Do I need to register in Virginia if I only sell services?

Registration follows from nexus, not from what you sell. Virginia's economic nexus test is $100,000 in gross sales OR 200 transactions. Whether your service receipts count toward that threshold, and whether Virginia still expects a registration when your particular service is not taxable, are separate questions that the state answers per service — confirm both with the Virginia revenue agency before deciding you have no filing obligation.

How do I check whether my specific service is taxable in Virginia?

Start from Virginia's posture — services largely outside the tax — then check your own service against the official guidance rather than against a general rule. The primary source for this page is Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.5 — Service exemptions (all ten subdivisions) (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-609.5/), retrieved 2026-07-31. Taxability of services changes by statute more often than tax rates do, so re-check the source date before relying on it for a filing.

Sales Tax on Services in Virginia (2026) — What's Taxable

Updated 2026-07-31

Reviewed by Nexus by State research team using official state tax sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-31.

Guide content last reviewed: 2026-07-31

Whether Virginia taxes a service depends on how the state draws its tax base, not on how professional the work looks — Services largely outside the tax. Below: the direct answer, which services are taxable, how professional services are treated, and the official VA source behind each rule (retrieved 2026-07-31).

Does Virginia charge sales tax on services?

Services largely outside the tax

Mostly no. Virginia Code § 58.1-603 imposes the 4.3% state tax on tangible personal property and, for services, only on "the gross sales of any services that are expressly stated as taxable within this chapter" — and chapter 6 expressly taxes very few. Section 58.1-609.5(1) then exempts professional, insurance, and personal service transactions outright where any sale of property is an inconsequential element for which no separate charge is made. The practical result is that a Virginia service business usually has nothing to collect, and the exceptions turn on how a charge is stated on the invoice rather than on what industry you are in.

The service charges Virginia does reach

Accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days — § 58.1-602 writes this into the definition of "retail sale" and § 58.1-603(4) taxes the gross proceeds
Fabrication of tangible personal property for consumers who furnish, directly or indirectly, the materials used — § 58.1-602 puts fabrication inside the definition of "sale"
The separately stated charge for automotive refinish repair materials permanently applied to a motor vehicle during its repair — § 58.1-602
The separately stated charge for supplies used during automotive repairs, whether or not title or possession of the supplies transfers and whether or not they are attached to the vehicle — § 58.1-602
Maintenance contracts whose terms provide for both repair or replacement parts and repair labor, taxed on one-half of the total charge under § 58.1-609.5(10)
Furnishing, preparing, or serving tangible personal property consumed on the premises of the person furnishing it — the meals limb of the "sale" definition in § 58.1-602

The service exemptions in § 58.1-609.5

Professional, insurance, or personal service transactions which involve sales as inconsequential elements for which no separate charges are made — subdivision 1
Services rendered by repairmen for which a separate charge is made — subdivision 1
Services not involving an exchange of tangible personal property which provide access to or use of the Internet and any other related electronic communication service, including software, data, content and other information services delivered electronically via the Internet — subdivision 1
An amount separately charged for labor or services rendered in installing, applying, remodeling, or repairing property sold or rented — subdivision 2
Transportation charges separately stated — subdivision 3, and separately stated charges for alterations to apparel, clothing and garments — subdivision 4
An amount separately charged for labor or services rendered in connection with the modification of prewritten programs — subdivision 6 — and custom programs as defined in § 58.1-602 — subdivision 7
An amount separately charged for labor rendered in connection with diagnostic work for automotive repair and emergency roadside service for motor vehicles — subdivision 8
Accommodations furnished to transients for more than 90 continuous days — subdivision 9, which is the mirror of the under-90-day charge being taxable

Are professional services taxable in Virginia?

No. Section 58.1-609.5(1) exempts professional, insurance, and personal service transactions where any sale of property is an inconsequential element and no separate charge is made for it, so accounting, legal, consulting, advisory, and insurance fees are outside the Virginia retail sales tax. Read the condition rather than the noun: the exemption is written around inconsequential property for which no separate charge is made, so a firm that separately bills the tangible property it hands over has created a separately stated charge that can be a taxable retail sale even though the advice itself is not.

How Virginia handles services in practice

Virginia is a property state. Section 58.1-603 levies the 4.3% tax on sales of tangible personal property, on leases and rentals, on stored property, on transient accommodations, and then — at subdivision 5 — on “the gross sales of any services that are expressly stated as taxable within this chapter.” That fifth limb is doing much less work than it sounds like it should. Chapter 6 expressly taxes accommodations and, through the definition of “sale”, fabrication; almost nothing else.

The word that decides most Virginia questions is “separately”. It appears in seven of the ten subdivisions of § 58.1-609.5. Separately charged installation, application, remodeling and repair labor is exempt. Separately stated transportation is exempt. Separately stated alterations to garments are exempt. Separately charged labor for modifying prewritten software is exempt. So the same engagement can be fully taxable or largely exempt depending on how the invoice is written — and unlike Tennessee, where itemising a charge does not remove it from the sales price of a taxable sale, in Virginia itemising is frequently the operative act.

Subdivision 1 has an internal tension worth reading twice. It exempts professional and personal service transactions only where property changes hands as an inconsequential element and no separate charge is made — but the same subdivision separately exempts “services rendered by repairmen for which a separate charge is made”. The two conditions point opposite ways, which is why Virginia questions are usually answered from the text of the subdivision rather than from a general principle.

Custom software and Internet access are named. Subdivision 7 exempts custom programs as defined in § 58.1-602, and subdivision 1 exempts services not involving an exchange of tangible personal property which provide access to or use of the Internet, including software, data, content and other information services delivered electronically. Virginia’s definitions in § 58.1-602 contain no definition of digital personal property, so the analysis for a subscription product runs through the tangible-property and custom-program language rather than through a digital-goods definition. See the Virginia SaaS page for the registration side.

Rate. The state rate in § 58.1-603 is 4.3%. Section 58.1-605(B) lets the council of any city and the governing body of any county levy a general retail sales tax at 1%, so the ordinary combined rate is 5.3%. Section 58.1-603.1 imposes an additional 0.70% in qualifying planning districts, including Planning District 8, Planning District 23, and Planning District 15, excluding groceries and essential personal hygiene products.

Where these Virginia rules come from

Every statement on this page traces to one of the official sources below. date_retrieved: 2026-07-31.

Virginia nexus note

Economic nexus in Virginia triggers when remote sellers exceed $100,000 in gross sales OR 200 or more separate transactions into Virginia in the current or preceding calendar year — whichever is met first.

What to do next

Read the full Virginia overview for thresholds, filing frequency, marketplace facilitator rules, and registration links. Use the nexus calculator to check whether you have crossed the threshold. For background on the post-Wayfair economic nexus framework, see the pillar guide.

Worked examples: service businesses in Virginia

The general rule above is easier to apply against a real trade. These national industry guides walk the same question for three service verticals, and each one names the state-by-state differences that decide whether a given invoice is taxable:

Services sales tax in other states

Compare Virginia's services rules with nearby and similar states' services sales tax guides:

Frequently asked questions

Does Virginia charge sales tax on services in 2026?: Mostly no. Virginia Code § 58.1-603 imposes the 4.3% state tax on tangible personal property and, for services, only on "the gross sales of any services that are expressly stated as taxable within this chapter" — and chapter 6 expressly taxes very few. Section 58.1-609.5(1) then exempts professional, insurance, and personal service transactions outright where any sale of property is an inconsequential element for which no separate charge is made. The practical result is that a Virginia service business usually has nothing to collect, and the exceptions turn on how a charge is stated on the invoice rather than on what industry you are in.
Which services are taxable in Virginia?: The service charges Virginia does reach in Virginia: Accommodations furnished to transients for less than 90 continuous days — § 58.1-602 writes this into the definition of "retail sale" and § 58.1-603(4) taxes the gross proceeds; Fabrication of tangible personal property for consumers who furnish, directly or indirectly, the materials used — § 58.1-602 puts fabrication inside the definition of "sale"; The separately stated charge for automotive refinish repair materials permanently applied to a motor vehicle during its repair — § 58.1-602; The separately stated charge for supplies used during automotive repairs, whether or not title or possession of the supplies transfers and whether or not they are attached to the vehicle — § 58.1-602. The full list on this page is drawn from Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.5 — Service exemptions (all ten subdivisions), retrieved 2026-07-31.
Are professional services taxable in Virginia?: No. Section 58.1-609.5(1) exempts professional, insurance, and personal service transactions where any sale of property is an inconsequential element and no separate charge is made for it, so accounting, legal, consulting, advisory, and insurance fees are outside the Virginia retail sales tax. Read the condition rather than the noun: the exemption is written around inconsequential property for which no separate charge is made, so a firm that separately bills the tangible property it hands over has created a separately stated charge that can be a taxable retail sale even though the advice itself is not.
Do I need to register in Virginia if I only sell services?: Registration follows from nexus, not from what you sell. Virginia's economic nexus test is $100,000 in gross sales OR 200 transactions. Whether your service receipts count toward that threshold, and whether Virginia still expects a registration when your particular service is not taxable, are separate questions that the state answers per service — confirm both with the Virginia revenue agency before deciding you have no filing obligation.
How do I check whether my specific service is taxable in Virginia?: Start from Virginia's posture — services largely outside the tax — then check your own service against the official guidance rather than against a general rule. The primary source for this page is Code of Virginia § 58.1-609.5 — Service exemptions (all ten subdivisions) (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter6/section58.1-609.5/), retrieved 2026-07-31. Taxability of services changes by statute more often than tax rates do, so re-check the source date before relying on it for a filing.

Sources

date_retrieved: 2026-05-27

Page-specific sources — date_retrieved: 2026-07-31