Wytheville, VA Sales Tax Rate: 5.3% Breakdown, Meals, and Hotels

The Wytheville, VA sales tax rate is 5.3% on most purchases, combining Virginia’s 4.3% state tax with a 1% local tax. The town itself adds no separate municipal sales tax. Groceries and essential hygiene items are taxed at just 1%, and restaurant meals carry an extra 8% local meals tax on top of the 5.3%.

How the 5.3% Breaks Down

Virginia charges a statewide sales tax of 4.3% on most retail purchases.¹ Every county and city in Virginia layers on a 1% local option tax, and Wythe County applies that 1% within its borders.² Wytheville does not stack a town-level sales tax on top, so the register total stops at 5.3%.

Some Virginia regions pay an additional 0.70% for transit funding, but that surcharge is limited to planning districts like Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. It does not apply in Wythe County or in Wytheville.³

What the 5.3% Covers

The 5.3% rate applies to most tangible personal property sold at retail. Virginia defines that broadly as any transfer of title or possession of physical goods, or taxable services, for a price, unless the buyer is purchasing strictly for resale.⁴ Clothing, electronics, furniture, building materials, auto parts, and most other goods bought from a Wytheville retailer fall under that rate. Most professional services do not.

Groceries and Hygiene Products Pay Only 1%

Since January 1, 2023, Virginia has fully eliminated the 4.3% state sales tax on food purchased for home consumption and essential personal hygiene products.⁵ Only the 1% local tax remains. Standard groceries at a Wytheville supermarket ring up at 1% rather than 5.3%.

The exemption depends on where you buy, not just what you buy. If a business earns more than 80% of its gross receipts from prepared food for immediate consumption, none of its food sales qualify for the reduced rate.⁵ Grocery stores typically sit well below that threshold, so even their deli items and rotisserie chickens stay at 1%. Expect to see both the 1% and the 5.3% rate on a single receipt when you mix groceries with cleaning supplies or paper goods.

Restaurant Meals: 13.3% All In

Eating out in Wytheville costs more in tax than a trip to the hardware store. The town levies an 8% meals tax on prepared food, and that charge sits on top of the 5.3% state and local sales tax.⁶ A $50 restaurant tab effectively carries 13.3% in combined taxes. The meals tax covers food prepared for immediate consumption at a restaurant, food truck, or similar establishment, and it appears as its own line on the check.

Hotel Stays

Short-term lodging is also taxable. Any room rented for fewer than 90 continuous days counts as a taxable retail sale under Virginia’s definitions.⁴ Wytheville charges an additional 10% local lodging tax on hotel and motel stays, listed separately on the bill.⁶

What Is Not Taxed

Several categories of goods carry no Virginia sales tax at all, in Wytheville or anywhere else in the state:

Prescription drugs dispensed by a licensed physician, dentist, veterinarian, or other authorized prescriber.
Over-the-counter medicines and proprietary drugs sold for the treatment or prevention of disease in humans, with no exemption certificate required.
Durable medical equipment including wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetic devices, orthopedic appliances, catheters, insulin, blood-testing supplies, and their replacement parts, when purchased by or for an individual for personal use.

These exemptions come from Virginia’s administrative regulations and do not require paperwork at checkout for personal purchases.⁷

The August Sales Tax Holiday

Virginia holds an annual sales tax holiday on the first full weekend of August, running from Friday at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Qualifying items are tax-free statewide, Wytheville included. The 2025 holiday ran August 1 through 3, and 2026 follows the same pattern.⁸

Price caps apply per item, not per transaction:

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

An item one cent over its threshold is taxed at the full rate. A $99 pair of shoes qualifies; a $101 pair does not.

Online and Out-of-State Purchases

When you buy something online or on a trip and the seller does not collect Virginia sales tax, you owe a consumer use tax at the same 5.3% combined rate. The rule covers internet orders, mail-order catalogs, and goods you bring back from a state that charged less tax or none at all.⁹

You can report it two ways: file the annual Form CU-7 by May 1 of the following year, or add it to your Virginia individual income tax return on Form 760, 760PY, or 763. The tax is calculated on the cost of the goods. Separately stated shipping charges are excluded, but combined “shipping and handling” fees are included. Most major online retailers now collect Virginia sales tax automatically, so the use tax most often comes up with smaller sellers and purchases carried back from other states.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-603 – Imposition of Sales Tax
2
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-606 – To What Extent and Under What Conditions
3
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-603.1 – Additional State Sales Tax in Certain Counties and Cities
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Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-602 – Definitions
5
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-611.1 – Exemption for Food Purchased for Human Consumption and Essential Personal Hygiene Products
6
Town of Wytheville. Treasurer’s Office
7
Virginia Code Commission. 23VAC10-210-940 – Medicines, Drugs, Eyeglasses, and Related Items
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Virginia Tax. Virginia Sales Tax Holiday
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Virginia Department of Taxation. Virginia Consumer’s Use Tax Return for Individuals