State of Virginia Sales Tax Holiday Calendar Virginia Sales Tax Holidays in 2013

A sales tax holiday is a special time period in which you are allowed to purchase certain items without having to pay the Virginia sales tax. The Virginia sales tax is 5.3%, so taking advantage of a Virginia sales tax holiday to buy $500.00 worth of goods would save you a total of $26.50.

Virginia has five sales tax holidays throughout the year on a variety of goods. The sales tax holiday calendar below lists all of the major Virginia sales tax holidays, the item the holiday applies to, and the total purchase amount for which the holiday can be used (per person).

Sale Dates Sale Item Sale Maximum Cost Sale Start Year
August 2nd - August 4thClothing$100.002006 (last 18 years)
November 30th - October 14thEnergy Star Products$2,500.002006 (last 18 years)
May 25th - May 31stHurricane Generators$1,000.002008 (last 16 years)
May 25th - May 31stHurricane Preparedness Items$60.002008 (last 16 years)
August 2nd - August 4thSchool Supplies$20.002006 (last 18 years)

Why do states have sales tax holidays?

Over a dozen states have various types of sales tax holidays throughout the year. Most of the time, these holidays are special promotions designed to promote desirable purchases of items such as energy-star rated products, emergency preparedness supplies, etc. Many states also hold sales tax holidays to correspond with the back-to-school shopping season for items like books, clothing, and school supplies.

In some cases, sales tax holidays may be implemented as a counter to customers increasingly moving to (often non-taxable) online retailers like Amazon.com. All sales tax holidays were first enacted within the last two decades, most within the last ten years.

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