RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s Back-to-School/Hurricane Preparedness Tax Free Weekend begins Friday, August 5 and extends through the Sunday, August 7.
During the sales tax holiday weekend, shoppers are encouraged to buy back-to-school items and take necessary precautions during hurricane season without paying state and local sales tax.
All retailers who sell the exempt products are required to participate in the sales tax holiday.
Tax exempt items include:
Most school and office supplies, such as pens, loose-leaf paper, scissors, binders, backpacks, and construction paper, priced at $20 or less.
Clothing and footwear, priced at $100 or less per item or pair.
Batteries, flashlights, bottled water, tarps, duct tape, fire extinguishers, cell-phone chargers, smoke detectors, buckets, rope, and first aid kits, priced at $60 or less.
Gas-powered chainsaws, priced at $350 or less, and chainsaw accessories, priced at $60 or less.
Portable generators, priced at $1,000 or less.
Energy Star-labeled dishwashers, washing machines, air conditioners, ceiling fans, light bulbs, dehumidifiers, and refrigerators, priced at $2,500 or less
WaterSense-labeled sink faucets, faucet accessories, aerators, shower heads, toilets, urinals, and landscape irrigation controllers, priced at $2,500 or less.
From the Virginia Department of Taxation:
Online purchases of qualifying products are exempt from the sales tax as long as orders are placed and paid for during the August 5-7 exemption period and the sellers have the items available for immediate shipment.
List of School Supplies Eligible for Exemption
“School supply,” means an item that is commonly used by a student in a course of study. For purposes of the sales tax holiday, the term does not include computers and
such items may not be purchased exempt of the tax. The following is an all-inclusive list of items that are included in the term “school supply” and are therefore exempt from tax during the sales tax holiday period, provided their sales price is $20 or less per item. Only the following items are exempt as school
supplies. Items need not be intended for use in school or in connection with a school activity to be eligible for the exemption.
Binder pockets
Binders
Blackboard chalk
Book bags, messenger bags, and totes
Calculators
Cellophane tape
Clay and glazes
Compasses
Composition books
Computer storage media; diskettes; recordable compact discs; and flash drives
Crayons
Dictionaries and thesauruses
Disinfectant wipes
Dividers
Erasers (including dry erase marker erasers and dry erase marker cleaning solution)
Folders: expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila
Glue, paste, and paste sticks
Hand sanitizer soap
Highlighters
Index card boxes
Index cards
Legal pads
Lunch boxes and lunch bags (including disposable lunch bags)
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 and printer 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
Tissues
Watercolors
Workbooks
Writing tablets
