Virginia – August 7, 8, 9 is Sales Tax Holiday

Reminder starting tomorrow! Virginia is one of the states that offers a Sales Tax Holiday for the first weekend in August.  That is a 5% discount!

For those that don’t have kids or have little tots, this holiday is a great time to buy items like underwear, socks, t-shirts, and sneakers.  It is also a good time to buy craft supplies for the younger kids like paint, paper, and markers.  Start thinking about Christmas gifts! The best part I found out is diapers, baby items and even wedding dresses ($100 or less) are included!! See list below.

August Sales Tax Holiday: School Supplies and Clothing

When: First weekend of August (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) each year. The 2009 holiday will take place on August 7, 8, and 9, 2009.

What’s Exempt: During this three-day period, purchases of qualifying school supplies selling for $20 or less per item, and purchases of qualifying clothing and footwear selling for $100 or less per item will be exempt from sales tax. Retailers may also choose to absorb the tax on other items during the holiday period, but they are responsible for paying the tax on those items to the Department of Taxation.

Other Information:

• Guidelines
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Lists of Exempt School Supplies and Exempt Clothing and Footwear
• Tax Holiday Information Center

Click HERE for more information.

A couple things to mention per the Guidelines document:

• The sales tax holiday is a recurring event, which begins at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August of every year and ends at midnight on the Sunday immediately following.
• The exempt items include: each school supply item with a selling price of $20 or less and each article of clothing or footwear with a selling price of $100 or less.
• Dealers are also permitted to absorb the sales and use tax on all other items sold during the same time period, thereby relieving purchasers of the obligation to pay such tax. Dealers who elect to absorb such taxes are liable for payment of the same to TAX.

School supplies that are included in the Sales Tax Holiday:

Virginia defines school supplies as items that are commonly used by a student in a course of study. The following is a list of items that are included in the term “school supplies” and are therefore exempt from tax during the sales tax holiday period if their sales price is $20 or less per item. The list is effective for the 2009 holiday and is all-inclusive.

• Binder pockets
• Binders
• Blackboard Chalk
• Book bags
• Calculators
• Cellophane tape
• Clay and glazes
• Compasses
• Composition books
• Crayons
• Dictionaries and thesauruses
• Dividers
• Erasers (including dry erase marker erasers and dry erase marker cleaning solutions)
• Folders; expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila
• Glue, paste, and paste sticks
• Highlighters
• Index cards
• Index card boxes
• Legal pads
• Lunch boxes
• Markers (including dry erase markers and dry erase marker kits)
• Musical instruments, musical instrument accessories, and replacement items for musical instruments
• Notebooks
• Paintbrushes for artwork
• Paints (acrylic, tempera, and oil)
• Paper; loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board and construction paper
• Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes
• Pencil sharpeners
• Pencils
• Pens
• Protractors
• Reference books
• Reference maps and globes
• Rulers
• Scissors
• Sheet music
• Sketch and drawing pads
• Textbooks
• Watercolors
• Workbooks; and
• Writing Tablets

Clothing items that are included in the Sales Tax Holiday:

Clothing means any article of wearing apparel and typical footwear intended to be worn on or about the human body. Clothing does not include sporting equipment or footwear designed primarily for athletic activity or protective use and not usually considered appropriate for everyday wear. The following is a list of items that are included in the term “clothing” and are therefore exempt from tax during the sales tax holiday period if their sales price is $100 or less per item. This list is not all-inclusive.

• Aprons, household and shop
• Athletic supporters
• Baby bibs and clothes
• Baby receiving blankets
• Bandanas
• Bathing suits, swim trunks, cover-ups and bathing caps
• Beach capes and coats
• Belts and suspenders
• Bibs
• Boots
• Choir and altar clothing
• Clerical vestments
• Coats, jackets, and windbreakers
• Corsets and corset laces
• Costumes (sold not rented)
• Coveralls
• Diapers, children and adult, including disposable diapers
• Dresses
• Ear muffs
• Footlets
• Formal wear for men and women (sold, not rented)
• Fur coats and stoles, shawls and wraps
• Garters and garter belts
• Girdles
• Gloves and mittens for general use
• Golf clothing, caps, dresses, shirts, skirts, pants
• Gym suits and uniforms
• Hats and caps
• Hosiery
• Insoles, inserts for shoes
• Jeans
• Jerseys (both athletic and non-athletic)
• Lab coats
• Legwarmers
• Leotards and tights
• Lingerie
• Neckwear, including bow ties, neckties, and scarves
• Nightgowns
• Overshoes and rubber shoes
• Pajamas
• Pantyhose
• Raincoats, rain hats, and ponchos
• Robes
• Rubber pants
• Rubber thong/flip-flops
• Sandals
• Scarves
• Shirts and blouses
• Shoes and shoe laces
• Shorts
• Skirts
• Slacks
• Slippers
• Slips
• Sneakers
• Socks and stockings, including athletic socks
• Steel toed shoes
• Suits
• Suspenders
• Underwear
• Uniforms, athletic and non-athletic
• Vests
• Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)

Click HERE to see the FAQ and list of items that do NOT qualify.