Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.

An Act to amend and reenact § 58.1-1745 of the Code of Virginia, relating to plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.

Taxes

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Martinez
Last action: 2026-04-06
Official status: Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details on the distribution process or exact amounts for each town.

Plastic Bag Tax Distribution to Towns

This act requires counties with plastic bag taxes to share some of their collected revenue with towns within those counties, using a specific formula.

What This Bill Does

Requires that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax receive a distribution of revenues based on the local sales tax distribution formula.

Who It Names or Affects

Towns within counties that have a plastic bag tax
Counties that impose a plastic bag tax

Terms To Know

Disposable Plastic Bag Tax: A charge of five cents per disposable plastic bag given to customers in grocery, convenience, and drug stores.
Local Sales Tax Distribution Formula: The method used by counties to share sales tax revenue with towns based on their population or other factors.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify how much money each town will receive.
Does not explain the exact process for distributing funds between counties and towns.

Bill History

2026-04-06 Governor
Approved by Governor-Chapter 112 (effective 7/1/2026)
2026-04-06 Governor
Approved by Governor-Chapter 112 (effective 7/1/2026)
2026-04-06 Governor
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0112)
2026-03-10 House
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026
2026-03-10 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-02-24 House
Fiscal Impact statement From TAX (2/24/2026 7:43 am)
2026-02-23 House
Signed by Speaker
2026-02-23 Senate
Signed by President
2026-02-23 House
Enrolled
2026-02-23 House
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB341ER)
2026-02-19 Senate
Read third time
2026-02-19 Senate
Passed Senate (22-Y 16-N 0-A)
2026-02-18 Senate
Read second time
2026-02-18 Senate
Passed by for the day
2026-02-18 Senate
Rules suspended
2026-02-18 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-17 Finance and Appropriations
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 5-N)
2026-01-28 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-01-28 Finance and Appropriations
Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations
2026-01-27 House
Read third time and passed House (67-Y 32-N 0-A)
2026-01-26 House
Read second time and engrossed
2026-01-23 House
Read first time
2026-01-21 Finance
Reported from Finance (15-Y 7-N)
2026-01-20 Subcommittee #2
Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 3-N)
2026-01-19 House
Fiscal Impact statement From TAX (1/19/2026 10:03 pm)
2026-01-16 Subcommittee #2
Assigned HFIN sub: Subcommittee #2
2026-01-12 House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100399D
2026-01-12 Finance
Referred to Committee on Finance

Official Summary Text

Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.
Requires that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax receive a distribution of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for appropriations to towns. The bill restricts a town's use of such revenues to the same purposes allowable for a county or city.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

An Act to amend and reenact §
58.1-1745
of the Code of Virginia, relating to plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §
58.1-1745
of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§
58.1-1745
. Disposable plastic bag tax.
A. Any county or city may, by duly adopted ordinance, impose a tax in the amount of five cents ($0.05) for each disposable plastic bag provided, whether or not provided free of charge, to a consumer of tangible personal property by retailers in grocery stores, convenience stores, or drugstores.
B. Any tax imposed under this section shall be collected by the retailer, along with the purchase price and all other fees and taxes, at the time the consumer pays for such personal property. All revenue accruing to the county or city from a tax imposed under the provisions of this article shall be appropriated for the purposes of environmental cleanup, providing education programs designed to reduce environmental waste, mitigating pollution and litter, or providing reusable bags to recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) benefits.
C. Each local ordinance imposing the tax shall provide for the tax to become effective on the first day of any calendar quarter; however, in no event shall any tax imposed pursuant to this article become effective before January 1, 2021. The county or city shall, at least three months prior to the date the tax is to become effective, provide a certified copy of such ordinance to the Tax Commissioner.
D. Any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax under this section shall receive from the county a distribution of the total tax collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula provided by subsections G and H of §
58.1-605
. Such distributions to towns shall occur at the same time and frequency as local sales tax distributions. Moneys received by a town pursuant to this subsection shall be appropriated only for the purposes allowed by subsection B.