In a first for Newport News, businesses can now pay their city taxes online
Business owners i n Newport News will be able to pay their business-related taxes online.
“Speaking with business owners we realized that this what something that was needed — postage sometimes gets lost in the mail or its stamped late, so this will help reduce late fees, this will help with not having to mail so many things or rush down to the office to renew their license or pay for their food and beverage tax or their admissions tax or any other business-related taxes online,” said Tiffany Boyle, commissioner of the revenue.
The new system has been
a work in progress for about three years. Before she took office in 2018, Boyle said, Newport News was considering using a third-party vendor to build the online system, but it was decided
the city’s IT department would build the system in-house to meet the needs of local tax payers.
“This is just our first step in trying to make our office more accessible to the citizens in Newport News and the businesses here,” Boyle said.
In future phases, the system will allow the city to send bills online, establish payment plans and allow business owners to file new businesses.
“This is a continuation of innovation that our office is striving to do and will continue to do, so I ask that they continue to give us feedback,” Boyle said.
All Newport News businesses will receive instructions in the mail with their paper renewal and can decide whether they’d like to create an account online.