Cigarettes in Augusta County will be taxed at a rate of 15 cents per pack beginning Jan. 1.
In effect since July 1, 2021, the cigarette tax is a new tax for Virginia counties. The General Assembly recently approved counties to tax items that cities normally tax, including meals, lodging and cigarettes.
Staunton and Waynesboro cities have taxed cigarettes for decades. The current rate in these two locations is 30 cents per pack.
Businesses that sell cigarettes will need to use the new dual stamp from the Blue Ridge Cigarette Tax Board and the State of Virginia. While the stamp is available for purchase now through the Virginia Department of Taxation, retailers should take care to not sell the newly-stamped cigarettes prior to Jan. 1, 2022.
There will be a sell-through period of 90 days for existing inventory not containing the new dual stamp.
In September, Augusta County joined the Blue Ridge Cigarette Tax Board, which provides uniform administration of local cigarette taxes for Augusta, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Madison, and Orange counties, the City of Charlottesville and the Town of Madison.
The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will be administering the compliance and collections for the BRCTB.
Instead of wholesalers and distributors remitting funds collected from the retailers back to individual localities, the distributors in these counties will remit to the BRCTB. The cigarette tax board will handle the distribution of the tax revenue to the localities from where it is collected, less an administrative fee to fund their operations.
For questions regarding the cigarette tax and how businesses can comply, call for more information at 540-245-5600.
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Chris Graham
