Virginia Beach Sales Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Meals Tax

The Virginia Beach sales tax is 6% on most retail purchases, made up of a 4.3% state rate, a 1% local rate, and a 0.7% Hampton Roads regional transportation levy that all appear as one line on your receipt.¹ Groceries are taxed at just 1%, prescription drugs are fully exempt, and separate city excise taxes push the real cost of restaurant meals and hotel stays well above the headline rate.

What Makes Up the 6%

Three layers combine into the single rate at the register. The state imposes 4.3% on retail sales of tangible personal property and certain services.² Virginia Beach adds the standard 1% local option tax that every Virginia locality charges. The Hampton Roads region tacks on another 0.7% earmarked for roads and transit through the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission.¹

That regional add-on is why Virginia Beach lands at 6% while most of the state sits at 5.3%. Northern Virginia has the same 0.7% surcharge and the same 6% total. The state portion goes to Richmond’s General Fund, the 1% stays with the city, and the 0.7% funds regional infrastructure.

Groceries and Personal Hygiene Products

Since January 1, 2023, Virginia has not collected the state portion of sales tax on food bought for home consumption or on essential personal hygiene products. The 1% local option still applies, so Virginia Beach grocery shoppers pay 1% at checkout instead of the full 6%.³

The hygiene category covers nondurable incontinence products like diapers and disposable undergarments, plus menstrual products including tampons, pads, and menstrual cups.⁴ Those get the same 1% treatment as groceries.

“Food for home consumption” is narrower than it sounds. Prepared meals, candy, and beverages served at restaurants are taxed at the full 6%, and in Virginia Beach they also trigger the city meals tax described below.

Prescriptions and Medical Equipment

Prescription medicines and drugs are fully exempt when dispensed by or on the order of licensed physicians, dentists, veterinarians, and other authorized practitioners.⁵ Neither the state nor the local portion applies.

Durable medical equipment purchased by or on behalf of an individual is also fully exempt. That covers wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetic devices, orthopedic appliances, catheters, and related supplies. Insulin, insulin syringes, and diabetic testing supplies qualify as well.⁵ The exemption is for personal medical use, not commercial resale.

The August Sales Tax Holiday

Virginia runs a three-day sales tax holiday each year that typically starts on the first Friday in August. Qualifying purchases are exempt from state and local sales tax during the window, subject to per-item price caps:⁶

School supplies at $20 or less per item
Clothing and footwear at $100 or less per item
Portable generators at $1,000 or less per item
Gas-powered chainsaws at $350 or less per item
Other hurricane preparedness items at $60 or less per item
Energy Star and WaterSense products at $2,500 or less per item for noncommercial home use

The hurricane preparedness category matters for a coastal city. Virginia Tax posts the exact dates each year, so confirm the window on its site before heading out.

Meals, Hotels, and Admissions

Virginia Beach layers several local excise taxes on top of the regular 6%. These are the charges that most often surprise visitors.

Meals Tax

The city charges a 6% tax on all prepared meals and drinks sold ready for consumption, dine-in or takeout.⁷ It stacks on top of the regular 6% sales tax, so a restaurant check in Virginia Beach carries roughly 12% in combined tax before tip.

Lodging Tax

Hotels, motels, and short-term rentals owe $2 per night plus a percentage of the stay. The percentage is 9% in most of the city and 10.5% in the Sandbridge Special Service District.⁸ The Hampton Roads region adds another 1% lodging tax for transportation.⁷ Together with the 6% state sales tax on lodging, a hotel guest outside Sandbridge faces about 16% in combined taxes plus the $2 nightly flat fee.

Short-term rental hosts remit both the flat fee and the percentage tax to the city by the 20th of each month for the prior month’s rentals.⁸

Admissions Tax

The city taxes admission to movies, concerts, sporting events, and similar entertainment. It is a separate excise charge on the ticket price, not part of general sales tax.

If You’re the One Collecting

Any business selling taxable goods or services in Virginia has to register with the Department of Taxation before collecting. Registration uses Form R-1 through the Virginia Tax Online portal.⁹ Each physical location needs its own registration, and the certificate must be displayed where customers can see it.

Out-of-state sellers hit Virginia’s economic nexus once they cross either $100,000 in annual gross retail sales to Virginia customers or 200 transactions in the previous or current calendar year. After crossing the threshold, they have 30 days to register and begin collecting.¹⁰ Marketplace facilitators like Amazon and Etsy handle collection for sales made through their platforms, and those sales do not count toward an independent seller’s nexus threshold.

Businesses buying inventory for resale avoid paying sales tax on those purchases by giving suppliers a completed Form ST-10, the Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption.¹¹ The supplier keeps the certificate on file as audit protection. Using a resale certificate to buy items you actually consume in your own business is one of the most common audit triggers in Virginia.

Returns are filed and paid electronically on Form ST-9 through the VATAX Online portal, with most businesses filing monthly by the 20th of the month following the reporting period.¹² A return is required even for a zero-sales period. Filing late costs 6% of the tax owed per month up to a 30% ceiling, with a $10 minimum penalty and interest at the federal underpayment rate plus 2%.¹³

1
Virginia Department of Taxation. Tax Bulletin 20-8 – New Regional Sales and Use Tax in Central Virginia Region
2
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-603 – Imposition of Sales Tax
3
Virginia Tax. Grocery Tax
4
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-611.1 – Exemption for Food Purchased for Human Consumption and Essential Personal Hygiene Products
5
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-609.10 – Miscellaneous Exemptions
6
Virginia Tax. Virginia Sales Tax Holiday
7
Commissioner of the Revenue. Other Taxes
8
City of Virginia Beach. Transient Occupancy Taxes
9
Virginia Department of Taxation. Business Registration Form
10
Virginia Tax. Remote Sellers, Marketplace Facilitators, Economic Nexus
11
Virginia Department of Taxation. Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption (Form ST-10)
12
Virginia Department of Taxation. Virginia Retail Sales and Use Tax Return
13
Virginia Tax. Retail Sales and Use Tax