---
type: "Bill"
title: "Merchants' capital tax; separate classification, retailers."
description: "Merchants' capital tax; separate classification; retailers. Provides that the merchants' capital of any retailer reported as inventory that is located in a structure that contains at least 200,000 square feet, with at least 200,000 square feet used solely to store such inventory, shall, along with certain wholesalers, be considered a separate classification and may be taxed at a lower rate than other classifications of merchants' capital. Under current law, only merchants' capital of wholesalers meeting a similar threshold of 100,000 square feet constitutes a separate class of property."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1575"
citation: "Virginia HB 1575 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark L. Cole"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-14"
last_action: "2020-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b9e19981-ee90-4f7a-a49b-92b5ec2b6805"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1575"
source_hash: "867edcc601c2b5e567fc34bd9e9d1bfdefe9c29e53d61b00d89186abf2a4eb80"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1575 (2020) — Merchants' capital tax; separate classification, retailers.

Merchants' capital tax; separate classification; retailers. Provides that the merchants' capital of any retailer reported as inventory that is located in a structure that contains at least 200,000 square feet, with at least 200,000 square feet used solely to store such inventory, shall, along with certain wholesalers, be considered a separate classification and may be taxed at a lower rate than other classifications of merchants' capital. Under current law, only merchants' capital of wholesalers meeting a similar threshold of 100,000 square feet constitutes a separate class of property.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0541)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0541)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1575ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1575ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1575H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1575H1)
4. **Impact statement from TAX (HB1575)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1575)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N) — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance with substitute (21-Y 1-N) — **21–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) — **16–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (79-Y 19-N) — **78–19** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark L. Cole — primary (person)
- Joshua G. Cole — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-14** Presented and ordered printed 20105515D `introduction`
- **2020-01-14** Referred to Committee on Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-19** Impact statement from TAX (HB1575)
- **2020-01-23** Assigned Finance sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-05** Committee substitute printed 20106932D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Finance with substitute (21-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 20106932D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1575H1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (79-Y 19-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (79-Y 19-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Impact statement from TAX (HB1575H1)
- **2020-02-25** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-27** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-06** Impact statement from TAX (HB1575ER)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 541 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b9e19981-ee90-4f7a-a49b-92b5ec2b6805`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).