General Information
Businesses that rent motor vehicles in the Commonwealth are required to have a valid Certificate of Registration issued by the Department of Taxation.
As of July 1, 2012, the Department of Taxation is now responsible for issuing Motor Vehicle Rental Certificates of Registration and handling the tax reporting for motor vehicle rental businesses. Prior to July 1, 2012, Motor Vehicle Rental Certificates of Registration and Rental Tax reporting were processed at DMV.
Registering rental vehicles is still done at DMV. In order to register rental vehicles with DMV, you must provide a valid rental number (Motor Vehicle Rental Certificate of Registration) at the time the vehicles are registered.
For more information about obtaining a Motor Vehicle Rental Certificate of Registration, please contact the Department of Taxation:
- By telephoning the Rental Tax Unit at (804) 404-4180 (Hearing Impaired only 804-367-8329)
- By emailing RentaltaxUnit@tax.virginia.gov
- By visiting the Dept. of Taxation website www.tax.virginia.gov