Local business owners seem pleased by Richmond’s upgraded portal, doubled BPOL tax threshold

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond announced upgrades to its RVA Business portal in early January and doubled the Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax threshold. Here's how a few local businesses feel about the changes.

According to a Jan. 5 release, the BPOL tax threshold previously sat at $250,000. Beginning on Jan. 1, this doubled to $500,000, according to the city.

8News reached out to a few businesses that have either shared their struggles with or have discussed using the city's business portal to learn more about their experience.

Local brewing company Richbrau Brewing called the payment portal for the admission, lodging and meals (AML) tax easy to navigate, adding that "the option to pay by credit card without additional fees is nice as well."

However, a spokesperson for the business added that although those parts are beneficial, utilizing the city's Business Personal Property (BPP) system is complicated.

"The BPP system is complicated and cumbersome," the spokesperson said. "There were errors with billing because of the new system."

According to Richbrau Brewing, the city "made things right" and corrected those bills.

"We’d still like to see a better BPP set up that is more comparable to the surrounding counties, but we’ll take whatever improvements we can get," the Richbrau Brewing company added.

In the January release, the city stated that the increase and change mean "thousands of Richmond businesses with gross receipts between $5,000 and $500,000 will now pay only a $30 flat license fee."

The increase was approved through an ordinance designed to reduce the "compliance burden on small businesses," while also maintaining essential city services, the city said.

8News also reached out to Natroganix, another local business, to hear how they would grade the city's system.

Natalie Doss, owner of Natroganix located at 105 E. Broad St., told 8News that she hasn't had too many problems with the portal.

"I haven't too many problems with it thus far, honestly," she said. "I'm not too tech savvy but I've been able to figure it out."

Business owners can access the portal here. The filing deadline for businesses is Sunday, March 1.