Business Closings Form – Newport News, VA

The Business Closings Form is the Newport News Commissioner of the Revenue form on which a business reports the date it closed or changed entity, its mailing address and phone number, and its gross receipts, so the office can determine whether additional BPOL tax is owed.

The form explains why it exists: closing a business, changing ownership and changing entity do not automatically end the business license tax liability. In most cases the Business, Professional, and Occupational License (BPOL) tax is assessed on the number of days a business operates during a calendar year, and operating or being available to do business during any part of a year creates a tax liability.

The office uses the information to decide whether there is an additional liability for the current year or the prior year, because the license tax payment was based on an estimated gross receipts amount or must be prorated. For an entity change, the old entity completes this form and its liability is prorated by the dates of operation, while the new entity completes a separate Business Classification Information (BCI) form to get a new account and license.

This is a business license tax form. The Commissioner's forms page lists real estate, mobile home and other forms separately.

Owners of a Newport News business that has closed, and the old entity when a business changes ownership or entity, complete the closing information on this form. The form says the old entity is the one required to complete it.

• Closed businesses: check the closing option and give the date the business closed.
• Entity changes: the old entity gives the date the entity changed. The new entity does not use this form to get its license: it completes a Business Classification Information (BCI) form to obtain a new account and a new license.
• Signers: the form is signed by the owner or an authorized agent, who prints name and title.

The form warns that closing, changing ownership or changing entity does not by itself end the license tax liability, so a business that stopped operating part-way through a year still reports through this form. It is not a form for real estate or personal property tax matters.

Complete the form when your business closes or changes entity, and include your tax payment by the due date(s) with the closing information to avoid penalty and interest. The form prints no separate calendar deadline of its own.

Timing rules printed on the form:

• Closing your business before March 1st does not relieve your tax liability for January and February.
• If you closed after December 31st of last year, you may owe tax for the current year. If you closed before December 31st of last year, you may be due a refund.
• A business that experiences an entity change must obtain a new business license within 30 days of commencing business; the new entity completes the BCI form for that.

The form names no mailing address or online portal of its own; it directs you to call or visit the offices of the Commissioner of the Revenue for assistance, and asks you to include your tax payment with the closing information.

• Downtown Office: 2400 Washington Avenue, Newport News, Virginia 23607-4389. Fax (757) 247-2628.
• Satellite (Denbigh) Office: 12912 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, Virginia 23608-1602. Phone (757) 886-7671, fax (757) 886-7670.
• Business Taxes and Licensing Department: phone (757) 926-8644.
• Dropbox: the Commissioner's forms page says a 24-hour dropbox is at each office, and at 700 Town Center Dr. (dropbox only). The office hours it lists are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Call the Business Taxes and Licensing Department to confirm how to deliver the form and payment. The agency's amount for any tax due is not on the form. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.