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This year, Aug. 1-3 has been designated as Virginia’s Sales Tax Holiday and offers residents a chance to shop eligible school supplies and clothing, emergency preparedness items and qualifying Energy Star and WaterSense items without paying sales tax. The three-day holiday, which always happens during the first weekend in August, begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday and continues through Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
There are three categories of items eligible for tax-free savings.
School Supplies, Clothing and Footwear
School supplies $20 or under are part of the weekend’s deal and many stores offer sales on items to help residents double their savings. These items include the usual suspects such as notebooks, crayons, textbooks and reference books but also covers musical instruments and accessories, computer storage media (USB drives, etc.) and lunchboxes and backpacks. The tax exemption does not cover computers.
Clothing and footwear covers most articles of clothing that are priced $100 or less. For purposes of the sales tax holiday, clothing does not include sporting equipment or footwear designed primarily for athletic activity or protective use and not usually considered appropriate for everyday wear.
See a full list of eligible school supply, clothing and footwear items.
Emergency Preparedness Items
Hurricane season is upon us so there’s no better time to stock up or refresh your emergency kits. Most items that are exempt should ring in under $60 in order to be eligible. However, gas-powered chainsaws are eligible up to $350 and portable generators and a few other power-related items can range up to $1,000 and still be part of the sales-exempt weekend.
See a full list of eligible emergency preparedness items.
Energy Star and WaterSense Products
Items affixed with an Energy Star or WaterSense label that cost $2,500 or less and are purchased for noncommercial or personal use are all eligible for the tax sale weekend.
See a full list of eligible Energy Star and WaterSense items.
