Virginia Consolidates Sales Tax Holidays
- Apr 1, 2015 | Gail Cole
Update 7.14.2015: The tax-free period taking place August 7-9 applies to three categories: clothing and school supplies, hurricane preparedness, and energy efficient products. Additional information.
Update 4.7.2015: The Virginia Department of Taxation has published information on the three 2015 sales tax holidays. Since SB 1319 takes effect in July 2015, it does not affect this year's tax-free period for hurricane preparedness supplies. As a result, the 2015 sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness supplies will take place May 25-31.
There have been three separate sales tax holidays in Virginia for the past several years. In 2014, for example, there was a tax-free period for certain energy efficient products in October, one for clothing and school supplies in August, and one for hurricane preparedness supplies in May. Moving forward, all three will take place at the same time.
Senate Bill 1319, signed into law by Governor McAuliffe (D) on March 19, 2015, establishes one sales tax holiday per year. It takes place “during the three-day period that begins each year on the first Friday in August and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the following Sunday.” The tax-free period applies to the following products:
- “Qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense with a sales price of $2,500 or less per product purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.”
- Certain school supplies, clothing and footwear. “The tax exemption shall apply to each article of school supplies with a selling price of $20 or less, and each article of clothing or footwear with a selling price of $100 or less.”
- Certain hurricane preparedness equipment.
The Virginia Department of Taxation will provide more thorough guidelines for qualifying merchandise no later than July 15 of each year. This law takes effect on July 1, 2015 and is set to expire on July 1, 2017.
Having all three tax-free periods at the same time should facilitate sales tax compliance for retailers. Automated sales tax Software-as-a-Service simplifies sales tax management and increases compliance at all times. Learn how it works.
