How to File a WV Sales and Use Tax Return (CST-200CU)

To file a WV sales and use tax return, you complete Form CST-200CU through the MyTaxes portal at mytaxes.wvtax.gov, reporting your gross sales, subtracting properly documented exempt sales, applying the 6% state rate plus any 1% municipal rate, self-reporting use tax on untaxed out-of-state purchases, and submitting payment by the 20th day of the month following your reporting period.¹ The return combines state and municipal tax into a single filing, so you do not file separately with each city.²

Register Before You File

You cannot file a CST-200CU without a West Virginia Business Registration Certificate. Every individual or entity doing business in the state must obtain one, and each business location requires its own certificate.³ Apply through business4wv.com or by submitting Form BUS-APP to the Tax Commissioner.

Out-of-state sellers with no physical presence still need to register once they cross either threshold in a calendar year: more than $100,000 in gross sales delivered into West Virginia, or 200 or more separate transactions delivered in the state. Collection begins as soon as you hit either one.⁴

When the Return Is Due

The Tax Commissioner assigns your filing frequency based on annual tax liability. Businesses above $25,000 file monthly. Those between $1,000 and $25,000 typically file quarterly. Businesses under $1,000 may qualify for annual filing.

Every frequency shares the same deadline: the 20th day of the month after the reporting period ends. When the 20th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.⁵ A monthly filer reporting January sales owes both the return and payment by February 20. Filing and payment happen together.¹

Completing the CST-200CU

The CST-200CU is a single combined return covering state and municipal sales and use tax.⁶ You can complete it inside MyTaxes or download a paper version. The calculation flows in a set order.

Gross Sales

Enter the total dollar amount received from all sales of taxable goods and services during the period. This is your starting figure before any deductions.

Exempt Sales

Subtract exempt sales from gross sales. All sales are presumed taxable unless a specific exemption applies, and the burden of proof falls on both buyer and seller.⁷ To claim a deduction for an exempt sale, you must have a properly completed exemption certificate from the buyer on file. West Virginia accepts the Streamlined Sales Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form F0003). Without valid documentation, you remain personally liable for the tax on those transactions.

Some categories are exempt without a certificate, including prescription drugs, utilities delivered through mains or pipes, school textbooks, and newspapers delivered by route carriers.⁸ Others, such as sales to government entities and resale purchases, require a certificate.

West Virginia taxes services by default, which is unusual. Personal services like barbering, hairstyling, and massage are exempt, along with personalized fitness programs. Weight loss programs and general fitness facilities are taxable.⁷ When in doubt, treat a service as taxable and look for a specific exemption.

Taxable Sales and State Tax

Gross sales minus exempt sales gives you taxable sales. Multiply that figure by 6% to calculate the state tax due.²

Municipal Tax

Many West Virginia cities add a 1% municipal sales and use tax, bringing the combined rate to 7% in those areas. The State Tax Department administers the municipal tax, so it goes on the same CST-200CU rather than a separate local return.² The form has separate lines for state and local portions. If you operate in multiple jurisdictions, keep records that break sales out by location so you can allocate them correctly. Apply the combined rate to taxable sales in each municipality and round to the nearest cent.

Use Tax on Untaxed Purchases

The return has a dedicated section for purchases where the seller did not collect West Virginia tax. This applies most often to equipment, supplies, or inventory bought from an out-of-state vendor. You self-report the purchase price and pay the same 6% rate, plus any applicable municipal rate, that would have applied locally.¹ Schedule M may be required to itemize these purchases. Auditors pay close attention to this line, so keep a running log of untaxed purchases throughout the period.

Contractors Follow a Different Rule

If you are a construction contractor making capital improvements to buildings or real property, you do not collect sales tax from your customer. You pay sales or use tax on the materials, equipment, and tools you purchase for the job, because you are treated as the end consumer.⁹

Repair and maintenance work that does not qualify as a capital improvement is a taxable service. In that case, you collect sales tax from the customer on both labor and materials, and you can buy parts for resale tax-free using an exemption certificate as long as they transfer to the customer and appear on the invoice.⁹ Misclassifying the work is one of the most common audit triggers in construction.

Submitting the Return and Paying

Businesses with $25,000 or more in annual remittances for any single tax must file electronically.¹⁰ Inside MyTaxes, log in, select your sales tax account, choose the open period, and enter the CST-200CU figures directly.

The portal accepts ACH debit, which pulls the payment from your bank account. Credit card payments go through a third-party processor that charges a fee. After a successful submission, save the confirmation number. That number is your proof of filing.

If you are authorized to file on paper, mail the return with a check or money order to the West Virginia State Tax Department in Charleston. The envelope must be postmarked by the deadline.

Fixing Mistakes After Filing

To correct a previously filed return, submit an amended CST-200CU for the same period. The same form handles both original and amended filings. Enter your original payment amount on Line 9 (“Less Prior Payment”) so the system can calculate any additional tax owed or overpayment to credit.⁶

If you want a refund rather than a credit, file Form CST-240 (Claim for Refund or Credit of Consumer Sales and Service Tax). The deadline is three years from the due date of the original return, or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later.¹¹ Miss that window and the overpayment is gone.

Late Penalties and Interest

West Virginia imposes two separate penalties that can stack. Filing a return late costs 5% of the tax due per month, capped at 25%. Paying late costs a separate 0.5% of the unpaid tax per month, also capped at 25%.¹² A business that both files and pays late faces both at once.

Interest also runs on any unpaid balance. The rate is recalculated each year and equals the adjusted prime rate charged by banks plus three percentage points.¹³ Interest runs from the original due date until the tax is paid. A separate 5%-per-month penalty (up to 25%) applies to underpayments caused by negligence or intentional disregard of the rules.¹²

Records To Keep

Keep all invoices, bills of lading, exemption certificates, and other documents supporting your returns for at least three years. That floor extends if the period remains open to assessment or refund, and the Tax Commissioner can require in writing that you hold records longer.¹⁴

Five years is safer in practice. Auditors will want to see a certificate for every deducted exempt sale, invoices supporting your use tax figures, and documentation for any credits. If a buyer provided a direct payment permit number or material purchase certificate number, the invoice showing that number needs to be in your files.¹⁴ Organized, period-by-period records make audits shorter and less contentious.

1
West Virginia Tax Division. Sales and Use Tax
2
West Virginia Tax Division. Municipal Sales and Use Tax
3
West Virginia Tax Division. Business Registration
4
West Virginia Tax Division. Remote Sellers and West Virginia Sales and Use Tax
5
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 11-15B-25 – Uniform Tax Returns
6
West Virginia Tax Division. CST-200CU Sales and Use Tax Return Instructions
7
West Virginia Tax Division. Sales and Use Tax Exemptions
8
Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R. 110-15-9 – Exemptions
9
West Virginia Tax Division. TSD-310 Capital Improvement Rule
10
West Virginia Tax Division. State Tax Department – Use and Acceptance of Electronic Records
11
West Virginia Tax Division. CST-240 West Virginia Claim for Refund or Credit of Consumer Sales and Service Tax Instructions
12
West Virginia Tax Division. How Interest and Additions to Tax are Assessed
13
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 11-10-17A
14
Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R. 110-15-14 – Maintenance of Records