This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Permit and tax rules change, and your situation may differ. Always confirm current requirements with the official state agency linked in this guide, and consult a licensed attorney or tax professional for advice about your specific business.Last verified against official state sources: 2026-06-11
If you sell handmade goods at Virginia craft fairs and festivals you are making retail sales and must collect Virginia sales tax at every event. Frequent vendors register for a sales tax account and display the ST-4 certificate; vendors who only do a couple of shows a year can collect and remit without registering using Form ST-50 (see below).
Online registrants receive a 15-digit account number and the ST-4 certificate upon completing registration.
Virginia Tax's festival vendor guidance lets sellers at very few events per year skip registration and instead remit the tax they collected with Form ST-50, the Temporary Sales Tax Certificate/Return, due by the 20th of the month after the show. Note the state's own materials describe the cutoff inconsistently (the festival page says 3 or fewer events, the ST-50 instructions say register at 3 or more), so if you do 3 or more shows a year, registering is the safe call. Registered seasonal sellers can mark active months to skip returns for inactive periods.
Virginia has an occasional sale exemption, but the regulation (23VAC10-210-1080) expressly says sales at fairs and flea markets and sales by peddlers are NOT occasional sales, and 23VAC10-210-570 requires fair and flea market sellers to hold a certificate and collect tax. The practical relief for low-volume vendors is the ST-50 process, which skips registration but never skips collecting the tax.
The general rate is 5.3 percent (4.3 state plus 1 local), rising to 6 percent in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Central Virginia, 6.3 percent in Danville and several counties with the extra local option tax, and 7 percent in the Historic Triangle around Williamsburg. You collect at the rate of the locality where the event takes place; Virginia Tax has an online rate and locality code lookup.
Virginia has no statewide business license, but localities can impose a Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax, and may separately license peddlers and itinerant merchants with a license tax capped at $500 a year. Check each locality where you sell.
Doing business as a dealer without a certificate of registration is a Class 2 misdemeanor (Va. Code 58.1-613), with each day counting as a separate offense.
Virginia Tax can, on written application, authorize event sponsors or operators to remit the tax collected by vendors at the event (23VAC10-210-570), but this is optional and otherwise leaves each vendor's duties in place.
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If you sell handmade goods at Virginia craft fairs and festivals you are making retail sales and must collect Virginia sales tax at every event. Frequent vendors register for a sales tax account and display the ST-4 certificate; vendors who only do a couple of shows a year can collect and remit without registering using Form ST-50 (see below).
Sales Tax Certificate of Registration (Form ST-4), via the Business Registration Application, issued by the Virginia Department of Taxation. Cost: Free (no fee listed). Online registrants receive a 15-digit account number and the ST-4 certificate upon completing registration.
Virginia has an occasional sale exemption, but the regulation (23VAC10-210-1080) expressly says sales at fairs and flea markets and sales by peddlers are NOT occasional sales, and 23VAC10-210-570 requires fair and flea market sellers to hold a certificate and collect tax. The practical relief for low-volume vendors is the ST-50 process, which skips registration but never skips collecting the tax.
The general rate is 5.3 percent (4.3 state plus 1 local), rising to 6 percent in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Central Virginia, 6.3 percent in Danville and several counties with the extra local option tax, and 7 percent in the Historic Triangle around Williamsburg. You collect at the rate of the locality where the event takes place; Virginia Tax has an online rate and locality code lookup.
Virginia has no statewide business license, but localities can impose a Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax, and may separately license peddlers and itinerant merchants with a license tax capped at $500 a year. Check each locality where you sell.
Browse upcoming craft fairs in Virginia with booth fees and application deadlines, read our picks for the best Virginia craft fairs, and use the booth ROI calculator to plan your season.
Last verified: 2026-06-11. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.