In Virginia, legislation enacted by the 2015 General Assembly combines the three existing sales tax holidays into one, three-day holiday beginning the first Friday in August at 12:01 a.m. and ending the following Sunday at 11:59 p.m. This year’s sales tax holiday is August 5-7, 2016.
During the combined sales tax holiday period, consumers may purchase qualified items exempt of the sales and use tax. The holiday is not restricted to Virginia residents. Anyone purchasing exempt items during the holiday in Virginia, or buying exempt items for immediate delivery to a Virginia address is eligible.
Listed below is a breakdown of the items that are tax exempt eligible and those items that are not.
Clothing – $100 or less
Exempt:
Clothing:
Belts .. Caps .. Coats .. Dresses .. Gloves .. Hats .. Hosiery .. Jackets .. Jeans .. Neckties .. Pants .. Scarves .. School uniforms .. Shirts .. Shoes .. Socks .. Sneakers .. Underwear
Taxable:
Clothing Accessories:
Belt Buckles (sold separately) .. Briefcases .. Cosmetics .. Hair Notions .. Handbags .. Jewelry .. Patches and Emblems (sold separately) .. Sewing Equipment and Supplies .. Sewing Materials, such as Thread, Fabric, Yarns and Zippers .. Sunglasses .. Umbrellas .. Wallets
Protective Equipment:
Breathing Masks .. Face Shields .. Hard Hats .. Hearing Protectors .. Helmets .. Paint or Dust Respirators .. Protective Gloves and Welder’s Gloves .. Safety Glasses and Goggles .. Tool Belts
Sports or Recreational Equipment:
Ballet and Tap Shoes .. Cleated or Spiked Athletic Shoes ..
Gloves (Baseball, Boxing, Golf) .. Goggles .. Hand and Elbow Guards .. Life Preservers and Vests .. Mouth Guards .. Roller and Ice Skates .. Shin Guards .. Shoulder Pads .. Ski Boots .. Wetsuits and Fins
School Supplies < $100.
Exempt:
School Supplies:
Binders .. Book Bags/ Backpacks.. Calculators .. Chalk .. Crayons .. Erasers .. Folders .. Glue .. Lunch Boxes .. Notebooks .. Paper .. Pens .. Pencils .. Rulers .. Scissors .. Tape
School Art Supplies:
Clay and Glazes .. Paints .. Paintbrushes .. Sketch and Drawing Pads .. Watercolors
Taxable:
School Computer Supplies:
Compact Disks .. Computer Printers .. Computer Storage Media .. Diskettes .. Handheld Electronic Schedulers .. Personal Digital Assistants .. Printer Supplies including Paper and Ink
School Instructional Material – Textbooks and workbooks are always exempt from sales tax
Computers < $1,500.
Exempt:
Computers with a purchase price of $1,500 or less, not for use in a trade or business, are exempt from sales tax. For purposes of this exemption, a computer is defined as a central processing unit (CPU), along with various other components including monitor, keyboard, mouse, cables to connect components, and preloaded software.
Taxable:
Computer parts, such as monitors, keyboards, speakers, and scanners when not sold in conjunction with a CPU .. Individually purchased software or other software not part of a preloaded software package on the initial purchase of a computer .. Storage media, such as diskettes and compact disks .. Handheld electronic schedulers .. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) .. Computer printers and supplies for printers, such as paper and ink
Some Area Retailers have even extended their hours for shoppers, so make sure to call ahead to your favorite shopping retailer and see if you can get in an extra hour or two of tax free shopping.
For more information visit TN Department of Revenue website and Virginia Department of Revenue website.
