A. The tax levied by this chapter shall be paid by the dealer, but the dealer shall separately state the amount of the tax and add such tax to the sales price or charge. Thereafter, such tax shall be a debt from the purchaser, consumer, or lessee to the dealer until paid and shall be recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts. No action at law or suit in equity under this chapter may be maintained in this Commonwealth by any dealer that is not registered under § 58.1-613 or is delinquent in the payment of the taxes imposed under this chapter.

B. Notwithstanding any exemption from taxes which any dealer now or hereafter may enjoy under the Constitution or laws of this or any other state, or of the United States, such dealer shall collect such tax from the purchaser, consumer, or lessee and shall pay the same over to the Tax Commissioner as herein provided.

C. Any dealer collecting the sales or use tax on transactions exempt or not taxable under this chapter shall transmit to the Tax Commissioner such erroneously or illegally collected tax unless or until it can affirmatively show that the tax has since been refunded to the purchaser or credited to its account.

D. 1. Any dealer that neglects, fails, or refuses to collect such tax upon every taxable sale, distribution, lease, or storage of tangible personal property made by it, its agents, or employees shall be liable for and pay the tax itself, and such dealer shall not thereafter be entitled to sue for or recover in this Commonwealth any part of the purchase price or rental from the purchaser until such tax is paid. Moreover, any dealer that neglects, fails, or refuses to pay or collect the tax herein provided, either by itself or through its agents or employees, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

2. Notwithstanding subdivision 1, any remote seller or marketplace facilitator that has collected an incorrect amount of sales and use tax shall be relieved from liability for such amount, including any penalty or interest, if the error is a result of the remote seller's or marketplace facilitator's reasonable reliance on information provided by the Commonwealth.

E. All sums collected by a dealer as required by this chapter shall be deemed to be held in trust for the Commonwealth.

F. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, any dealer is authorized during the period of time set forth in §§ 58.1-611.2 and 58.1-611.3 or subdivision 18 of § 58.1-609.1 not to collect the tax levied by this chapter or levied under the authority granted in §§ 58.1-605 and 58.1-606 from the purchaser, and to absorb such tax itself. A dealer electing to absorb such taxes shall be liable for payment of such taxes to the Tax Commissioner in the same manner as it is for tax collected from a purchaser pursuant to this section.

Code 1950, § 58-441.18; 1966, c. 151; 1972, c. 355; 1979, c. 198; 1984, c. 675; 2006, cc. 579, 593; 2007, cc. 176, 608, 817; 2013, c. 766; 2019, cc. 815, 816, 854.