Rates last verified: September 4th, 2026
Sources: Code of Virginia; Virginia Department of Taxation. Full citations at the bottom of this page.
Virginia runs one of the simpler telecom tax regimes to describe and one of the easier ones to get wrong on an invoice. The 2006 reform act replaced local consumer utility taxes on phone service with a single 5% statewide tax on the customer, collected by the provider and remitted to the Department of Taxation on Form CT-75. The per-line fees are where the detail lives, because Virginia charges a different 911 amount for landline, postpaid wireless, and prepaid wireless service, and adds 988 crisis line charges on wireless only.
Quick Facts
| Item | Virginia Treatment |
|---|---|
| Communications sales and use tax | 5% of the sales price, paid by the customer and collected by the provider, since January 1, 2007 (Va. Code § 58.1-648) |
| What the 5% covers | Landline, wireless, satellite, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling, including local, intrastate, interstate, and international service, plus cable television, satellite television and radio, teleconferencing, paging, and fax services (Virginia Department of Taxation) |
| Landline E-911 tax | $0.75 per access line per month on switched lines, packet or circuit, which reaches VoIP; wireless is excluded (Va. Code § 58.1-1730) |
| Postpaid wireless E-911 | $0.82 per customer per month (Va. Code § 56-484.17), plus a $0.12 monthly 988 charge (Va. Code § 37.2-311.5); the Department of Taxation bills the two together as $0.94 |
| Prepaid wireless E-911 | $0.55 per retail transaction (Va. Code § 56-484.17:1), plus a $0.08 988 charge (Va. Code § 37.2-311.5), $0.63 total at the register; each item purchased is a separate transaction |
| Public rights-of-way use fee | $2.68 for landline telephone and cable television, per the Department of Taxation; the Virginia Department of Transportation resets the rate each year by formula, with a floor of $0.50 per access line per month (Va. Code § 56-468.1) |
| Local taxes | Local consumer utility taxes on phone service ended January 1, 2007 (Va. Code § 58.1-3812, repealed); localities may still license telephone companies at up to 0.5% of gross receipts, excluding long distance (Va. Code § 58.1-3731) |
| Internet access | Exempt from the communications tax (Va. Code § 58.1-648); also protected by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act |
How Virginia Taxes Telecom Services
Virginia rebuilt its telecom taxes in a single act. Before 2007, cities, counties, and towns each taxed phone service through their own consumer utility taxes. Acts of Assembly 2006, chapter 780 repealed that authority effective January 1, 2007 and put a statewide 5% communications sales and use tax in its place under Va. Code § 58.1-648. The customer pays, the provider collects, and the Department of Taxation administers the tax through Form CT-75, due the 20th of the month after each filing period. The state then distributes the money to localities.
The base is wide. The Department of Taxation lists landline, wireless, and satellite telephone service, including local, intrastate, interstate, and international calls and VoIP, plus cable television, satellite television and radio, teleconferencing, private communications services, paging, answering services, and fax services. Interstate and international calls sit inside the base, and Va. Code § 58.1-649 supplies the sourcing rules: mobile and flat-rate services follow the customer's place of primary use, and call-by-call charges source to Virginia when the call starts and ends there or when one end plus the service address is in the state.
The exclusions are just as clear. Internet access, email, and similar services incidental to internet access are exempt under Va. Code § 58.1-648, and the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act bars taxing internet access anyway. Digital products delivered electronically, such as downloaded software, music, and ringtones, stay out of the base, as do information services, over-the-air broadcasts, coin-operated services, and sales to government customers. Sales for resale are exempt, so carrier-to-carrier traffic does not stack the tax.
Little of the local layer survived. The one piece that did is provider-side: localities may impose a business license tax on telephone companies of up to 0.5% of gross receipts from customers inside the locality, with long distance charges excluded from the base under Va. Code § 58.1-3731. That tax falls on the provider's receipts; the statute puts no line item on the customer.
911 And Other Per-Line Fees
Virginia charges 911 fees three ways. Landline and other switched access lines, packet or circuit, pay a state E-911 tax of $0.75 per line per month under Va. Code § 58.1-1730; the statute's packet-switched language is why the Department of Taxation applies it to VoIP, and wireless is excluded. Postpaid wireless pays a monthly E-911 surcharge of $0.82 per customer under Va. Code § 56-484.17, and providers may keep 3% for collection costs. Prepaid wireless pays $0.55 per retail transaction at the point of sale under Va. Code § 56-484.17:1, the dealer may keep 5% if it remits on time, and every item in a multi-item purchase counts as its own transaction.
The 988 crisis line adds a second wireless layer under Va. Code § 37.2-311.5: $0.12 per month on each postpaid wireless customer and $0.08 per prepaid retail transaction. That is why the Department of Taxation's published figures read $0.94 for postpaid wireless and $0.63 for prepaid: each is the E-911 charge plus the 988 charge. Landline pays no 988 charge.
The public rights-of-way use fee under Va. Code § 56-468.1 covers landline telephone and cable television. The Virginia Department of Transportation recalculates it every year from highway miles and statewide access line counts, the statute sets a floor of $0.50 per access line per month, and providers add it to each end user's bill. The Department of Taxation currently lists the fee at $2.68; the effective period for that figure is data pending (see Verify-before-publish).
Taxability By Service Type
- Local, intrastate, interstate, and international calling, whether landline, wireless, satellite, or VoIP: 5% communications sales and use tax.
- Cable television, satellite television, and satellite radio: 5% communications sales and use tax.
- Landline and VoIP access lines: $0.75 monthly E-911 tax plus, for landline and cable, the rights-of-way use fee.
- Postpaid wireless: $0.82 E-911 plus $0.12 988 charge each month, $0.94 combined.
- Prepaid wireless: $0.55 E-911 plus $0.08 988 charge per retail sale, $0.63 combined, reported on the sales tax return rather than Form CT-75.
- Internet access, email, digital downloads, and information services: exempt from the communications tax.
- Sales for resale and sales to government customers: exempt.
How CereTax Handles Virginia
Virginia's difficulty is the fee stack. One invoice can carry the 5% tax, the right 911 charge for the line type, a 988 charge if the service is wireless, and a rights-of-way fee if it is landline or cable, each with its own base and filing path. CereTax assigns each charge to the right jurisdiction at the rooftop level, applies Virginia's base rules by service type, and keeps an audit trail behind every calculation. If you serve customers in Virginia, book a demo and bring a real invoice.
For the full evaluation checklist, see what a telecom tax engine should do.
Sources
- Va. Code § 58.1-647, definitions; § 58.1-648, imposition of the communications sales and use tax and exemptions; § 58.1-649, sourcing rules. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 58.1-1730, tax for enhanced 911 service; landline E-911 tax. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 56-484.17, wireless E-911 surcharge. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 56-484.17:1, prepaid wireless E-911 charge. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 37.2-311.5, postpaid and prepaid wireless 988 charges. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 56-468.1, public rights-of-way use fee. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Va. Code § 58.1-3731, local license tax on telephone companies; § 58.1-3812, repealed by Acts 2006, c. 780, effective January 1, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Virginia Department of Taxation, Communications Taxes (Form CT-75 rates and taxable services list). Accessed August 28, 2026.
- Internet Tax Freedom Act, 47 U.S.C. § 151 note.
See how other states compare on the telecom tax by state hub.
Note: Always confirm current rates and filing obligations directly with the state’s DOR, PUC, or 911 authority before applying charges or remitting payments.
