Every manufacturer, distributor, or dealer, before he commences to operate vehicles in his inventory for sale or resale, shall apply to the Commissioner for a dealer's certificate of vehicle registration and license plates. For the purposes of this article, a vehicle is in inventory when it is owned by or assigned to a dealer and is offered and available for sale or resale. All dealer's certificates of vehicle registration and license plates issued under this section may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be placed in a system of staggered issue to distribute the work of issuing vehicle registration certificates and license plates as uniformly as practicable throughout the year. Dealerships which sold fewer than twenty-five vehicles during the last twelve months of the preceding license year shall be eligible to receive no more than two dealer's license plates; dealerships which sold at least twenty-five but fewer than fifty vehicles during the last twelve months of the preceding license year shall be eligible to receive no more than four dealer's license plates. However, dealerships which sold fifty or more vehicles during their current license year may apply for additional license plates not to exceed four times the number of licensed salespersons employed by that dealership. Dealerships which sold fifty or more vehicles during the last twelve months of the preceding license year shall be eligible to receive a number of dealer's license plates not to exceed four times the number of licensed salespersons employed by that dealership. A new applicant for a dealership shall be eligible to receive a number of dealer's license plates not to exceed four times the number of licensed salespersons employed by that dealership. For the purposes of this article, a salesperson or employee shall be considered to be employed only if he (i) works for the dealership at least twenty-five hours each week on a regular basis and (ii) is compensated for this work. All salespersons' or employees' employment records shall be retained in accordance with the provisions of § 46.2-1529. A salesperson shall not be considered employed, within the meaning of this section, if he is an independent contractor as defined by the United States Internal Revenue Code. The fee for the issuance of dealer's license plates shall be determined by the Board, but not more than $30 per license plate; however, the fee for the first two dealer's plates shall not be less than twenty-four dollars and the fee for additional dealer's license plates shall not be less than ten dollars and forty cents each. For the first two dealer's license plates issued by the Department to a dealer, twenty-four dollars shall be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund established pursuant to § 33.2-1524 and the remainder shall be deposited into the Motor Vehicle Dealer Fund. For each additional dealer's license plate issued to a dealer, ten dollars and forty cents shall be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund and the remainder shall be deposited into the Motor Vehicle Dealer Fund.

1988, c. 865, § 46.1-550.5:4; 1989, c. 727; 1990, c. 197; 1991, c. 712; 1995, cc. 767, 816.