‘The squeeze’: Novelists sue city and county for business tax bills

John Hart and Corban Addison Klug both make a living writing novels. Unlike writers for newspapers and magazines, which state code exempts from business license taxes, Hart and Addison received sizable tax bills from Albemarle County and Charlottesville that they say are unconstitutional. The two men filed lawsuits against the city and county July 24, […]

Overtaxed: Numbers don’t add up for diners

Charlottesville raised its meals tax to 6 percent July 1, which, on top of the 5.3 percent state sales tax, adds more than 11 percent to your dinner tab. But a computer glitch at one local restaurant meant some customers were paying more than 16 percent. Lorena Perez, a designer at C-VILLE Weekly, had lunch […]

The taxman cometh—and wants list of stored vehicles

Personal property taxes are due June 5, and the city has stepped up its efforts to locate vehicles that reside in Charlottesville, even if their owners don’t. Woolen Mills Storage received a request from Commissioner of the Revenue Todd Divers to provide a list of vehicles stored there. “If a vehicle is parked here on […]

Writer tax: County is all business in targeting freelancers

In an area crawling with writers, it’s a well-known fact: Unless you’re a John Grisham or Jan Karon, the odds of being able to pay the rent by writing are pretty low. Nonetheless, that hasn’t deterred Albemarle County from requiring a $50 business occupational professional license—and collecting it for the past five years, with interest […]

Homestay hullabaloo: State legislation could bring big change locally

While only about one-third of more than 500 homestays operating in town are compliant with local rules and regulations, the city’s commissioner of revenue, Todd Divers, says proposed state legislation is slowing the process of tracking down offenders and demanding they pay up. The limited residential lodging act introduced by Virginia Delegate Chris Peace, R-97th, […]