During the sales tax holiday, you can buy qualifying school supplies, clothing, footwear, hurricane and emergency preparedness items, and Energy Star™ and WaterSense™ products without paying sales and use tax.
Under current law, the sales and use tax rate is generally 5.3 percent, comprised of a 4.3 percent state tax and a 1 percent local option tax. An additional regional tax of 0.7 percent applies in the Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia regions. Effective July 1, Guidelines For Combined Sales Tax Holiday May 31, 2019 2018, an additional 1 percent regional tax applies in the Historic Triangle region (James City County, York County, and the City of Williamsburg) in addition to the existing 0.7 percent regional tax. During the sales tax holiday, purchases of qualifying items will be exempt from the 4.3 percent state sales tax, the 1 percent local option tax, and any otherwise applicable regional taxes.
Eligible Items
- School supplies, clothing, and footwear
- Qualified school supplies – $20 or less per item
- Qualified clothing and footwear – $100 or less per item
- Hurricane and emergency preparedness products
- Portable generators – $1,000 or less per item
- Gas-powered chainsaws – $350 or less per item
- Chainsaw accessories & safety apparel – $60 or less per item
- Other specified hurricane preparedness items – $60 or less per item
- Energy Star™ and WaterSense™ products
- Qualifying Energy Star™ or WaterSense™ products purchased for noncommercial home or personal use – $2,500 or less per item
A detailed list of eligible items can be found in the Sales Tax Holiday Guidelines. See Hurricane Preparedness Items on page 15 of the linked guidelines.