Southampton County Vehicle License Fee and Exemptions

Section 9-39 of the county code sets the annual license tax due "By December 5 of each year": "$28.00 for each private passenger car, pickup truck, panel truck or motor home" used privately, with weight- and use-based amounts for larger vehicles ($23.00 floors for private buses over ten seats, rent-or-hire vehicles and taxicabs), $10.00 for a trailer or semitrailer used as living quarters, and a schedule for trucks by gross weight. The license year runs January 1 to December 31 (section 9-45). The Treasurer's Vehicle License Fees page states the working table: "Cars, Pickups, Buses $28.00; Active duty non-resident military No Fee; Disabled Vets and POWs No Fee; Antique Car No Fee; Motorcycle $15.00; Boat Trailers 0-1500 Lbs. $6.00, 1501-4000 Lbs. $10.00, 4001 and above $12.00; All National Guard $11.50; Farm Use No Fee". Section 9-39(b) exempts sixteen classes, the fifteenth being "Former prisoners of war and disabled veterans" (as amended through the Ordinance of August 27, 2024). Section 9-37(b) separately excludes every vehicle exempted by Code of Virginia sections 46.2-662 through 46.2-684 and 46.2-755 - the statute that bars a locality from charging a license fee on a disabled veteran's plated vehicle.