Chap. 180.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 176 of the Tax Code of Vir-
ginia, in relation to the license taxation of contractors, plumbers and steam
fitters. " [H B 343]

Approved March 22, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion one hundred and seventy-six of the tax Code of Virginia be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 176. Contractors, plumbers and steam fitters—Any per-
son, firm or corporation accepting or offering to accept orders or
contracts for doing any work on or in any building or structure, re-
quiring the use of paint, stone, brick, mortar, wood, cement, struc-
tural iron or steel, sheet iron, galvanized iron, metallic piping, tin,
lead, electric wiring or other metal or any other building material,
or who shall accept or offer to accept contracts to do any paving,
curbing or other work on sidewalks, streets, alleys, or highways, pub-
lic or private property, using asphalt, brick, stone, cement, concrete,
wood or any composition, or who shall accept or offer to accept
an order for or contract to excavate earth, rock, or other material for
foundations or any other purpose, or who shall accept or offer to ac-
cept an order or contract to construct any sewer of stone, brick, terra
cotta or other material, shall be deemed a contractor; provided, how-
ever, that any person, firm or corporation engaging in the business
of plumbing and steam fitting in cities, towns or counties which have
adopted or may hereafter adopt rules and regulations for the pur-
pose of securing sanitary construction, alteration and inspection
of plumbing and sewer connections and drains, pursuant to section
fifteen hundred and forty-four of the Code of Virginia, shall not be
deemed to be a contractor, as defined in this section, but shall pay
for the privilege of conducting the business of plumbing and steam
fitting, the same license as that required of contractors by this section.

Every contractor and every plumber and steam fitter shall, on the
first day of January in each year, procure from the commissioner of
the revenue for the city or county in which he has his office, a license
to carry on the business of a contractor, plumber or steam fitter ; pro-
vided, that if such contractor, plumber or steam fitter has no office
in this State, then he shall procure such license from the commissioner
of the revenue for the city or county where he conducts his business

When a contractor or a plumbing and steam fitting contractor
shall have paid the aforesaid State license and local license requirec
by the city or town, in which his principal office and any branch of-
fice Or offices may be located, no further license shall be required by
the State or other city or town for conducting any such business within
the confines of this State, except that qualification under section fifteen
hundred and forty-four of the Code may be required of contractors
doing plumbing, and provided that this section shall not apply to
contractors, plumbers and steam fitters the gross amount of whose or-
ders accepted and executed does not exceed five thousand dollars per
annum.

Every such contractor, plumber and steam fitter, for the privilege
of transacting business in this State, shall pay a license, to be ascer-
tained in the following manner:

If the gross amount of all orders or contracts accepted during the
preceding year aggregated five thousand dollars, he shall pay the
sum of five dollars; if the amount of such orders or contracts was
more than five thousand dollars, and did not exceed ten thousand
dollars, ten dollars; if the amount of such orders or contracts ex-
ceeded ten thousand dollars, and did not exceed twenty thousand
dollars, fifteen dollars; if the amount of such orders or contracts ex-
ceeded twenty thousand dollars, and did not exceed fifty thousand
dollars, twenty dollars; if the amount of such orders or contracts
exceeded fifty thousand dollars, and did not exceed one hundred
thousand dollars, fifty dollars; if the amount of such orders or con-
tracts exceeded one hundred thousand dollars, and did not exceed one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, one hundred dollars; if the
amount of such orders or contracts exceeded one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, and did not exceed three hundred thousand dollars,
one hundred and fifty dollars; and if the amount of such contracts
or orders exceeded three hundred thousand dollars, two hundred and
fifty dollars.

The license tax on every contractor, plumber and steam fitter be-
ginning business shall be measured in accordance with the foregoing
scale by the gross amount of all orders or contracts which he has
accepted before applying for the license, plus the gross amount of all
orders or contracts which he estimates he will. accept between the
date of the issuance of his license and the thirty-first of December
following:

The councils or other governing bodies of cities and towns may,
by ordinance or ordinances, classify contractors for the purpose of
city or town license taxation, and may impose upon each class the
same or different rates of tax.