NORFOLK, Va. - From Friday, August 5 to Sunday, August 7 you won't have to pay sales tax in Virginia for certain items.
During the 2022 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 tax.
So what's eligible?
- 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 - $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
"Inflation has been a hard hit to families in Virginia and across the country. In fact, the National Retail Federation has said that 38% of consumers will be actually dialing back spending in other areas just to prepare for the upcoming school year," said Jenny Crittenden, Senior Vice President at Retail Alliance.
Eligible School Supplies:
- 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
Eligible Clothing Items:
- 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
- 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, pajamas, and other nightwear
- Overshoes and rubber shoes
- Raincoats, rain hats, and ponchos
- Robes
- Rubber pants
- Rubber thong/flip-flops
- Sandals
- Scarves
- Shirts and blouses
- Shoes and shoelaces
- Shorts
- Skirts
- Slacks
- Slippers
- Slips
- Sneakers
- Socks and stockings, including athletic socks
- Steel toed shoes
- Suits
- Suspenders
- Underwear or undergarments
- Uniforms, athletic and non-athletic
- Vests
- Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)
Eligible Preparedness Items under $60:
- Artificial ice, blue ice, ice packs, and reusable ice
- Batteries (excluding automobile or boat batteries), including AAA cell, AA cell, C cell, D cell, 6 volt, 9 volt or cell phone batteries
- Portable, battery-operated, or self-powered light sources including flashlights, lanterns or glow sticks
- Tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, plastic drop cloths, and other flexible waterproof sheeting
- Bungee cords, rope, and paracords
- Ground anchor systems or tie-down kits
- Ratchet straps
- Duct tape
- Carbon monoxide detectors
- Smoke detectors
- Fire extinguishers
- Gas or diesel fuel tanks or containers
- Water storage containers
- Nonelectric food storage coolers
- Bottled water
- Nonreusable water packets
- Manual can openers
- Portable, battery-operated or self-powered radios (including self-powered radios with electrical power capability)
- Two-way radios
- Weather band radios and NOAA weather radios
- Storm shutter devices
- Cell phone chargers
- First Aid Kits
Emergency Preparedness Items $1,000 or less:
- Portable generators and generator power cords
- Inverters and inverter power cables
- Photovoltaic devices that generate electricity
- Chainsaws and chainsaw accessories
"I think anytime you don't have to pay sales tax is pretty exciting in the shopping world. Right?," said Crittenden. "[Independent retailers] are also offering other incentives or discounts in combination with the sales tax holiday, which makes it a great time for your families to get out."
