Portsmouth meal tax bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.
A food establishment in the City of Portsmouth collects the City's prepared-food (meal) tax from customers and remits it. The City can require a meal tax bond guaranteeing that remittance. The City of Portsmouth Commissioner of the Revenue / Treasurer sets the amount — pricing starts from $100, and your exact price appears at the application. Your price is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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Apply to filed in one sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard Portsmouth meal tax bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with the City. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your business details, the bond amount the City set, and the effective date — that is the entire application. No credit section to fill out.
Issued on the spot
Pricing is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — the executed bond is generated as soon as you pay.
File with the City
Submit the executed bond to the City of Portsmouth Commissioner of the Revenue / Treasurer. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the meal tax bond actually covers
The City of Portsmouth levies a tax on prepared food and beverages — the meal tax — that restaurants and food establishments collect from customers at the point of sale. That money belongs to the City; the establishment is holding it in trust until it remits. To protect that, the City can condition a food establishment on a meal tax bond.
It is a three-party guarantee: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of Portsmouth (the obligee). The bond guarantees you remit the meal tax you collect. If an establishment collects the tax and fails to pay it over, the City can recover the unremitted tax against the bond.
It is not insurance for you. If the City draws on the bond for unremitted tax, you repay the surety. Operators who file and remit their meal tax on time treat the bond as a licensing formality.
You need this bond if you are
One application, issued on the spot.
Submit the application with the bond amount the City set — the executed bond is generated instantly, ready to file.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Virginia bonds.
Portsmouth meal tax bond, issued today.
From $100. Enter the amount the City required and file the same day.