The West Virginia sales tax holiday returns Friday, July 31 through Monday, August 3, 2026, waiving both the 6% state sales tax and any municipal sales tax on qualifying back-to-school items: clothing, school supplies, instructional materials, laptop and tablet computers, and sports equipment, each within a per-item price cap.
When the Holiday Runs in 2026
The exemption starts at 12:00 a.m. on Friday, July 31, 2026, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, August 3, 2026.1West Virginia Tax Division. Business That’s four full days. You have to complete the purchase inside that window for the exemption to apply.
What You Can Buy Tax-Free
Five categories qualify, each with its own price ceiling that applies per item, not per receipt.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
- Clothing and footwear priced at $125 or less per item. The list is broad: shirts, pants, coats, shoes, sneakers, diapers (including disposables), uniforms, formal wear, steel-toed shoes, and wedding apparel.
- School supplies priced at $50 or less per item, including notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, calculators, folders, rulers, scissors, book bags, and lunch boxes.
- School instructional materials priced at $20 or less per item. This is a narrow list: textbooks, workbooks, reference books, reference maps, and globes.
- Laptop and tablet computers priced at $500 or less per device.
- Sports and recreational equipment priced at $150 or less per item, including cleated athletic shoes, baseball gloves, bowling gloves, ice and roller skates, shin guards, shoulder pads, life preservers, wetsuits, and ski boots.
Buy ten qualifying shirts at $100 apiece and you pay no tax on any of them. But if a single item goes even a dollar over its cap, the full price becomes taxable. A $501 laptop is taxed on the entire $501, not on the amount above the threshold.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
What Doesn’t Qualify
Plenty of items look like they should be covered but aren’t. Clothing accessories are explicitly excluded: jewelry, handbags, watches, wallets, sunglasses, umbrellas, briefcases, wigs, and cosmetics stay taxable regardless of price. Belt buckles, costume masks, and patches sold separately also don’t qualify.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
Protective equipment isn’t covered either. Hard hats, safety glasses, hearing protectors, breathing masks, clean room apparel, and tool belts remain taxable.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
Items purchased for use in a trade or business are excluded entirely. Buying 50 company polo shirts during the holiday won’t save your business a dime; the exemption is for personal consumer purchases only.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers Rentals of otherwise qualifying items also fall outside the exemption.3Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R 110-15F-18 – Exceptions
How Coupons Affect the Price Cap
A store coupon or retailer discount reduces the price for threshold purposes. A $140 jacket that drops to $120 after a store coupon qualifies at the discounted price.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
Manufacturer coupons work differently. When the retailer accepts a coupon it will be reimbursed for by a third party, that coupon does not reduce the item’s price for the exemption. A $130 pair of shoes with a $10 manufacturer coupon is still a $130 purchase, still over the $125 clothing cap, and still taxable.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
Online Orders, Layaway, and Rain Checks
Online and Phone Orders
You don’t need to shop in person. An online or phone order qualifies as long as you order and pay during the holiday window. Delivery can come days or weeks later; the transaction date controls, not the delivery date.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers
Layaway
Layaway works in both directions. Putting a qualifying item on layaway during the holiday, with the required deposit and the merchandise set aside, locks in the tax-free status even though you’ll finish paying later. And if you placed an item on layaway earlier and make the final payment during the holiday weekend, that final payment qualifies too.4Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R 110-15F-10 – Layaway Sales
Rain Checks
Using a previously issued rain check during the holiday to buy a qualifying item gets you the exemption, whenever the rain check was issued. Getting a rain check during the holiday is different: unless you pay in full at the time it is issued, buying that item after the holiday ends means you’ll owe tax on it.5Legal Information Institute. West Virginia Code R 110-15F-12 – Rain Checks
State and Local Tax You Actually Save
The holiday exempts qualifying purchases from the 6% state sales tax and from any municipal sales and use tax. Most West Virginia municipalities that impose a local tax charge 1%, so the combined rate is 7% in those areas.6West Virginia Tax Division. Municipal Sales and Use Tax During the four-day window, that full combined rate drops to zero on eligible items.2West Virginia Tax Division. Sales Tax Holiday Questions and Answers