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For one weekend in early August, the price on the tag is the price you pay. Virginia's annual sales tax holiday runs Friday, August 7 through Sunday, August 9, 2026, giving Alexandria shoppers a three-day window to buy school supplies, clothes, emergency-preparedness gear and energy-efficient appliances without the state and local sales tax added at checkout.
The timing is deliberate. The holiday lands squarely in back-to-school season, just as Alexandria City Public Schools families start filling supply lists, and at the front end of peak Atlantic hurricane season, when emergency officials urge residents to stock up before a storm is ever on the forecast. In the Alexandria area, where the combined sales tax rate is 6 percent, the exemption trims real money off a full cart — $30 back on a $500 haul, and more for families outfitting multiple kids.
How it works
There's nothing to sign up for and no coupon to clip. During the three-day window, qualifying items simply ring up without sales tax at any retailer registered to collect Virginia sales tax — in stores and online alike. For online orders, the purchase generally needs to be placed and paid for during the holiday to qualify. Final payments on layaway items made during the weekend count, too.
One detail worth knowing: the price caps below apply per item, not per transaction. A $95 jacket qualifies; a $120 coat is fully taxable, with no partial break on the first $100. But you can buy as many qualifying items as you like in a single trip and still skip the tax on each one.
What's covered
The exemption falls into three buckets, each with its own price ceiling, according to the Virginia Department of Taxation:
School supplies, clothing and footwear
- Qualified school supplies — $20 or less per item
- Qualified clothing and footwear — $100 or less per item
The clothing category is broad, covering everyday apparel and shoes rather than just backpacks and binders — useful for families and non-students alike. The department publishes a full list of qualifying school supplies and clothing.
Hurricane and emergency-preparedness products
- Portable generators — $1,000 or less per item
- Gas-powered chainsaws — $350 or less per item
- Chainsaw accessories — $60 or less per item
- Other qualifying preparedness items — $60 or less per item
That last, catch-all tier is where most household prep lands: batteries, flashlights, first-aid kits, bottled water, tarps and similar supplies. The department's <a href="https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/sales-tax-holiday-list-hurricane-preparedness-items.pdf">hurricane preparedness list</a> spells out what makes the cut.
Energy Star™ and WaterSense™ products
- Qualifying products for noncommercial home or personal use — $2,500 or less per item
This is the big-ticket category. Certain Energy Star-rated appliances and WaterSense-labeled fixtures bought for the home qualify, making the weekend a natural time to replace an aging dishwasher, washing machine or faucet. The Energy Star and WaterSense list details eligible products.
Before you shop
A few practical notes: if a qualifying item sells out, some retailers will honor the exemption on rain checks — worth asking at the register. Not every product in a category qualifies, so the department's detailed guidelines are the definitive word on what's in and what's out. And because the holiday only comes once a year, it's a sensible moment to knock out both the school-supply list and the storm kit in a single weekend.
Full details and the complete qualifying-item lists are available from the Virginia Department of Taxation.
