Chap. 137.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of an act
entitled an act to levy a tax upon motor vehicle fuels; to provide for its
collection; to appropriate revenue raised by the same and to prescribe
penalties, approved March 26, 1923, section 4 of which was amended by
an act approved March 21, 1924. [S B 86]

Approved March 10, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions one, two, three, four and five of an act entitled an act to levy a
tax upon motor vehicle fuels; to provide for its collection; to appro-
priate revenue raised by the same and to prescribe penalties, ap-
proved March twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, sec-
tion four of which was amended by an act approved March twenty-
first, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, be amended and re-enacted
so as to read as follows: |

Section 1. The following words, terms and phrases used in this
act are for the purposes hereof defined as follows:

(a) ‘‘Motor vehicles’ are hereby defined as all automotive or
self-propelled vehicles, engines or machines, which are operated or
propelled by internal combustion of gasoline, distillate or other vola-
tile or inflammable liquid fuels.

(b) ‘Motor vehicle fuels’ are such fuels known as gasoline, ben-
zine, naphtha, liberty fuels, and such other volatile or inflammable
liquids, not including kerosene oil, as may be used for the purpose
of operating or propelling motor vehicles.

(c) The term ‘‘dealer’’ is hereby defined as any person, associa-
tion of persons, firm or corporation who or which imports, or causes
to be imported, in the State of Virginia, motor vehicle fuels as herein
defined, for use, distribution, or sale and delivery in and after the same
reach the State of Virginia; and also any person, association of per-
sons, firm or corporation who or which produces, refines, manufac-
tures or compounds such fuels in the State of Virginia, for use, dis-
iribution, or sale and delivery in this State. Persons, associations,
firms and corporations importing, or causing to be imported, into this
State for their own use, such fuels in any container other than the
usual tank or receptacle connected with the engine of the motor ve-
hicle in the operation of which the fuel is to be consumed, and per-
sons, associations, firms or corporations producing, refining, manu-
facturing or compounding such fuels in this State for their own use,
shall also be considered dealers within the meaning of this act.

Section 2. In addition to the taxes now provided by existing
law, every dealer, as herein defined, who is now engaged or who may
hereafter engage, in his own name, or in the name of others, or in the
name of his representatives or agents in this State, in the sale, distri-
bution or use of motor vehicle fuels, as herein defined, shall, not later
than the twentieth of each calendar month, render to the motor ve-
hicle commissioner, a statement on forms prepared and furnished by
the said commissioner, which shall be sworn to by one of the principal
officers, in the case of domestic corporations, or by the resident gen-
eral agent or attorney in fact, by a chief accountant or officer, in case
of foreign corporations, by the managing agent or owner in case of a
firm or association of persons, or by the dealer in all other cases, which
statement shall show the quantities of motor vehicle fuels sold and
delivered, or used, within the State of Virginia during the preceding
calendar month, and such dealer shall at the same time pay the tax
or taxes hereinafter levied on all motor vehicle fuels sold and deliv-
ered, or used, as shown by such statement.

Bills shall be rendered to all purchasers of motor vehicle fuels
by dealers selling the same. The said bills shall contain a statement
printed thereon in a conspicuous place that the liability to the State
for the tax or taxes hereby imposed has been assumed, and that the
dealer will pay the tax or taxes thereon on or before the twentieth
day of the following month.

Section 3. There is hereby levied a tax of four and one-half cents
per gallon on all motor vehicle fuels, as herein defined, which are
sold and delivered, or used, in this State, and are not under the pro-
tection of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution of the
United States. But nothing herein shall be construed to exempt from
this tax any distributor of gas or oils on the gas used in making such
distribution.

Section 4. The said tax or taxes shall be paid on or before the
twentieth day of each month as herein provided, to the motor ve-
hicle commissioner, who shall receipt to the dealer therefor, and less
any refunds made under this act, and the necessary expenses incurred
in the administration thereof, promptly pay the same into the State
treasury. Sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the revenue de-
rived from the tax levied as aforesaid is hereby appropriated for the
construction of the roads and projects comprising the State highway
system and shall be applied to no other purpose. Of such sixty-six
and two-thirds per ceritum, two-thirds shall be allocated as now pro-
vided by law, and the remaining one-third shall be expended by the
State highway commission for the construction of such roads and pro-
jects of the State highway system as in the opinion of the commis-
sion will result in the greatest benefit to the State as a whole.
Thirty-three and one-third per centum of the revenue derived from
the tax, levied as aforesaid, is appropriated primarily for the main-
tenance of the roads and bridges now embraced in or which may be
hereafter added to, the several county highway systems of this State,
in accordance with chapter four hundred and twenty-six of the acts
of assembly of nineteen hundred and eighteen, and acts amendatory
thereof, and shall be apportioned quarterly among the several coun-
ties of this State in the same proportion and in the same manner as
the State aid money is now distributed to said counties under exist-
ing law. Any balance remaining after such maintenance may then
be applied to the construction or reconstruction of the roads and
bridges.embraced in such county highway systems. The counties
shall be required to match said sums to the extent of one-third of
said sum. .

The State highway commission shall not be entitled to retain or
receive any part thereof. The boards of supervisors and the local
road and bridge commissions where legally constituted of the several
counties, shall have exclusive authority to expend the money derived
as aforesaid, in the manner as aforesaid; but if the board of super-
visors of any county shall request the State highway commission to
so do as to any specific project or projects of road construction or re-
construction to be financed in whole or in part from said sums, then
the State highway commission shall assist in and supervise the con-
struction or reconstruction of such road project or projects in all re-
spects as is provided for by chapter four hundred and twenty-six of
the acts of assembly of nineteen hundred and eighteen, and acts
amendatory thereof, the whole cost, however, to be paid by the
county out of said sums or other county funds, and upon and after
such application shall have the same authority and control over such
road construction or reconstruction project or projects as it now has
over State aid road construction projects.

Section 5. Every dealer in motor vehicle fuels shall keep a record
of all purchases, receipts, sales, deliveries and consumption of such
fuels, which shall include the number of gallons sold and delivered, or
used, and the date of sale or use, which records shall be preserved for
a period of two years and shall at all times during the business hours
of the day be subject to inspection by the motor vehicle commis-
sioner or his deputies, or such other officers as may be authorized by
the said commissioner.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its pas-
sage.