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I’m a huge fan of the Virginia Sales Tax Holiday in our area in Northern Virginia that is a 5% discount. I’ll take that!  This year it is 08/6/10-08/08/10.

Click HERE to see if your State participates in this type of event.

For Virginia:

Sales of the following items are exempt from sales or use tax during the sales tax
holiday period:
• Each article of clothing or footwear with a selling price of $100 or less per article;
and
• Each school supply item with a selling price of $20 or less per item.

For those that don’t have kids or have little tots, this holiday is a great time to buy items like underwear, socks, t-shirts, and sneakers.  It is also a good time to buy craft supplies for the younger kids like paint, paper, and markers.  Start thinking about Christmas gifts! The best part I found out is diapers, baby items and even wedding dresses ($100 or less) are included!! See list below.

Here are questions that I thought are super helpful when planning for that weekend.  This comes from the Virginia website FAQs:

What items are included under school supplies?

Virginia defines school supplies as items that are commonly used by a student in a course of study. The following is a list of items that are included in the term “school supplies” and are therefore exempt from tax during the sales tax holiday period if their sales price is $20 or less per item. The list is effective for the 2010 holiday and is all-inclusive.

• Binder pockets
• Binders
• Blackboard Chalk
• Book bags
• Calculators
• Cellophane tape
• Clay and glazes
• Compasses
• Composition books
• Crayons
• Dictionaries and thesauruses
• Dividers
• Erasers (including dry erase marker erasers and dry erase marker cleaning solutions)
• Folders; expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila
• Glue, paste, and paste sticks
• Highlighters
• Index cards
• Index card boxes
• Legal pads
• Lunch boxes
• 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 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
• Watercolors
• Workbooks; and
• Writing Tablets

Are computers eligible for exemption during this holiday?

No. Computers do not qualify as “school supplies.” The list of eligible items is an all-inclusive list.

What items are included under clothing?

Clothing means any article of wearing apparel and typical footwear intended to be worn on or about the human body. Clothing does not include sporting equipment or footwear designed primarily for athletic activity or protective use and not usually considered appropriate for everyday wear. The following is a list of items that are included in the term “clothing” and are therefore exempt from tax during the sales tax holiday period if their sales price is $100 or less per item. This list is not all-inclusive.

• 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 and suspenders
• Bibs
• 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
• Overshoes and rubber shoes
• Pajamas
• Pantyhose
• Raincoats, rain hats, and ponchos
• Robes
• Rubber pants
• Rubber thong/flip-flops
• Sandals
• Scarves
• Shirts and blouses
• Shoes and shoe laces
• Shorts
• Skirts
• Slacks
• Slippers
• Slips
• Sneakers
• Socks and stockings, including athletic socks
• Steel toed shoes
• Suits
• Suspenders
• Underwear
• Uniforms, athletic and non-athletic
• Vests
• Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)

Can other items that are not included in this list also qualify as clothing?

Yes. This list is not all-inclusive. Provided the item in question meets the definition of clothing as provided for in the sales tax holiday guidelines, and provided the item does not fall under the categories of clothing accessories, protective equipment or sport or recreational equipment, it may also qualify as clothing.

What types of items do not fall under the category of clothing?

The following items are considered to be clothing accessories, protective equipment, or sport and recreational equipment and are not eligible to be purchased exempt of the tax.

• Clothing accessories, or equipment
  • Briefcases
  • Cosmetics
  • Fabric, thread, and yarn used to make clothing
  • Hair notions, including, but not limited to, barrettes, hair bows, and hair nets
  • Handbags
  • Handkerchiefs
  • Jewelry
  • Sun glasses, non-prescription
  • Umbrellas
  • Wallets
  • Watches
  • Wigs and hair pieces
• Protective Equipment
  • Breathing masks
  • Clean room apparel and equipment
  • Ear and hearing protectors
  • Face shields
  • Hard hats
  • Helmets
  • Paint or dust respirators
  • Protective gloves
  • Safety belts
  • Safety glasses and goggles
  • Tool belts; and
  • Welders gloves and masks
• Sport or recreational equipment
  • Ballet and tap shoes
  • Cleated or spiked athletic shoes
  • Gloves, including, but not limited to, baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey, and golf
  • Goggles
  • Hand and elbow guards
  • Life preservers and vests
  • Mouth guards
  • Roller and ice skates
  • Shin guards
  • Shoulder pads
  • Ski boots
  • Waders
  • Wetsuits and fins

Thanks to MoneyWiseMoms.com for the reminder!

What will you be buying on the sales tax holiday? I plan on getting all of the school supplies that will last me a year and some basic clothes.

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