On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Virginia, we aim to educate you on the differences that occur throughout the state so you get a better understanding of it in regards to whether you may have:

  • Have taken a new job in the are
  • Applied for a new school
  • Opened a new bank account in the state of Virginia
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Virginia?

In the map of Virginia that is pictured below there are a total of 133 countries that are within the state. You can go directly to the page and see which area has the highest and lowest sales tax in your county of choice.

 

Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle ofWight JamesCity King andQueen KingGeorge KingWilliam Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan PrinceEdward PrinceGeorge PrinceWilliam Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York Chesapeake Suffolk VirginiaBeach

 

The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 4.3% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 2.7% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Virginia is 7.153%,
  • the highest is within the York County that consists of Yorktown, Seaford, Lackey and this equates to 8% sales tax,
  • the lowest sales tax is in the Accomack, Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Dickenson, Dinwiddie, Essex, Fauquier, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Grayson, Greene, Greensville, Highland, King And Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mcdowell, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Montgomery, Nelson, Northumberland, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Prince George, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Shenandoah, Smyth, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise, Wythe County and the sales tax in these areas total to 5.3%

This is a brief overview, and we suggest that you go directly to the page if you wish to get a clearer image of the different ranges of sale tax in a particular county. Please note that the ones that have an asterisk means they are below the usual county level of sales tax.

How to calculate your own sales tax in the state of Virginia.

So, what does this mean for you, if you are looking into how much sales tax you are going to charged dependant on what sort of county you are residing or working out of. You can go ahead and use a sales tax calculator which will give you a section that is exampled below.

$
-or- Specify Sales Tax Rate
-or- Specify ZIP Code
%

 

You do need to know the purchase ZIP code and purchase amount in order to get an accurate figure. For an example we will use the amount of $500 and see what the ranges could be from the highest area to the lowest.

In Yorktown, VA with the highest sales tax of 7% would mean that your $500 purchase would incur a $35 sales tax, taking the total amount to $535.

Whereas in Virginia Beach, VA the sales tax is only 6% and a $500 purchase would equate to $30 tax, taking the total to $530.

The sales tax calculator makes it as easy as it can be to find out what sort of sales tax you will be charged by simply adding the amount and the ZIP code. Though there might be some purchases that are exempt from sales taxes or have some special leniency which do need to be taken into consideration.

City Sales Tax Rate Zip-code Population
Arlington 6.00% 22201, 22202, 22203, 22204, 22205, 22206, 22207, 22209, 22210, 22213, 22214, 22215, 22216, 22217, 22219, 22225, 22226, 22227, 22230, 22240, 22241, 22242, 22243, 22244, 22245, 22246 165826
Woodbridge 6.00% 22191, 22192, 22193, 22194, 22195 151947
Henrico 6.00% 23075, 23228, 23229, 23231, 23233, 23238, 23242, 23255, 23288, 23294 150621
Fairfax 6.00% 22030, 22031, 22032, 22033, 22035, 22037, 22038 122544
Springfield 6.00% 22150, 22151, 22152, 22153, 22156, 22158, 22159, 22160, 22161 91639
Midlothian 6.00% 23112, 23113, 23114 78330
Falls Church 6.00% 22041, 22042, 22043, 22044 77816
Manassas 6.00% 20109, 20111, 20112, 20113 76075
Sterling 6.00% 20164, 20165, 20166, 20167 68554
Ashburn 6.00% 20146, 20147, 20148, 20149 67841
Stafford 5.30% 22554, 22555, 22556 62881
Centreville 6.00% 20120, 20121, 20122 58579
Mechanicsville 6.00% 23111, 23116 56512
Glen Allen 6.00% 23058, 23059, 23060 55308
Reston 6.00% 20190, 20191, 20194, 20195, 20196, 22096 50316

Annandale

6.00% 22003 45824

Mc Lean

6.00% 22101, 22102, 22106, 22107, 22108, 22109 44519

Chesterfield

6.00% 23832, 23838 43370

Yorktown

7.00% 23690, 23691, 23692, 23693 39943

Charlottesville

5.30% 22902, 22903, 22905, 22906, 22907 39650

Burke

6.00% 22009, 22015 38291

Chester

6.00% 23831, 23836 38040

Herndon

6.00% 20170, 20172, 22095 35561

Vienna

6.00% 22181, 22182, 22185 34936

Spotsylvania

5.30% 22551, 22553 27552

Lorton

6.00% 22079, 22199 26431

Dumfries

6.00% 22025, 22026 26350

Culpeper

5.30% 22701 25160

Blacksburg

5.30% 24060, 24061, 24062, 24063 24858

Front Royal

5.30% 22630 24004

Christiansburg

5.30% 24068, 24073 23907

Gainesville

6.00% 20155, 20156 23841

Why do I need to collect sales tax in Virginia?

You will need to collect sales tax if you have any sort of nexus there, and what this means is that if you have assets that are physical or economic then you need to do this.

Physical meaning having a tangible activity or some sort of presence in any of the states of Virginia, economic nexus is simply passing the states’ economic threshold for total revenue, or the maximum number of transactions that can occur in the period of time within the state.

Two easy ways to see if you have either a physical or economic nexus in any of the counties is the following:
Physical:

  • Tangible personal property
  • Business assets or property
  • Own, renting properties
  • Made more than $500,000 in a service or content delivery in the state

Economic:

  • Made more than $100,000 in sales annually
  • More than 200 transactions in the last calendar year

How do I get a sales tax permit?

The main way to go about this is to register online at the Virginia Business Gateway. Follow the steps that are presented to you and ensure that you have the following to hand to use as information:

  • Business identification information
  • Business entity
  • Location/s that you will be conducting this from
  • Date you will start collecting Virginia sales tax from a business/property
  • NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification System.)

What is the best way to file sales taxes?

Before you think of doing anything else there are three things that we recommend that you do in order to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.

First of all, find out how much tax you owe (remember the sales tax calculator we mentioned before) so that you know how much you need to pay the state at the end. Second is get onto the Virginia Department Of Taxation ready to submit them, and third have the money ready so you can make the payment straight away.

There are two main options as well to filing and paying your Virginia sales tax, these are:

  • Filing online. This is where merchants are required to file all of their sales taxes through the department of taxation in the state of Virginia, you can also pay your taxes on this platform, so it is one to keep close to you for future reference.
  • Filing by mail. Simply fill out the form UST-1, but this is not the recommended way of filing your taxes due to the possibilities of them getting lost in the post and then it could mean that you are subject to late fees if they are not filed within the allotted time.

We hope this document was able to allow you to feel more confident when it comes to sales tax in the state of Virginia depending on where you operate out of.