West Virginia Sales Tax Calculator

West Virginia: 6% statewide, 7% in more than a hundred towns

West Virginia’s state sales tax is 6%, and 107 municipalities add a 1% municipal sales and use tax, making 7% inside their limits. Your rate is either 6% or 7%, depending on whether you are inside a taxing municipality. The average combined rate is 6.6%.

Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown and Beckley are among the cities at 7%, and more towns have been added over time, with several starting in 2025. The Tax Division keeps a current list with each town’s effective date. Deliveries are taxed at the rate where the buyer receives them: in the Tax Division’s example, a Charleston tyre dealer delivering to Romney must charge Romney’s municipal tax.

How West Virginia expects the tax to be calculated

The Tax Division says to add the state and municipal rates together, apply the total to the taxable price, and round to the nearest cent. Don’t calculate the two taxes separately and round each one, which can make a one-cent difference. On a $19.99 item in Morgantown, 7% gives $1.40 of tax.

The 1% municipal tax applies to the same goods and services as the state tax, with a few limited exceptions, and the Tax Division notes it covers custom software and services provided inside the municipality. So many services, not just goods, carry the full 7% in a taxing town.

Groceries and prescriptions are exempt

Food and food ingredients bought to eat at home are exempt under West Virginia Code § 11-15-3a. Prepared food, vending machine food and soft drinks are excluded from the exemption and taxed in full. The Tax Division’s January 2025 tax expenditure study puts the value of the grocery exemption at $205 million.

Prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, mobility-enhancing equipment and insulin are also exempt. Mobile homes used as a main residence are taxed on only half the sales price, so the effective rate is 3%.

The back-to-school holiday: four days, with caps

West Virginia’s sales tax holiday runs from the Friday before the first Sunday in August to the following Monday. In 2026 that was 12:00 a.m. Friday, July 31 to 11:59 p.m. Monday, August 3, a four-day weekend rather than the usual three.

• Clothing: $125 or less per item.
• Laptop and tablet computers: $500 or less.
• School instruction materials: $20 or less.
• School supplies: $50 or less.
• Sports equipment: $150 or less.

Holiday rules that catch shoppers out

The caps are all-or-nothing. A $150 pair of shoes is taxed on the full $150, not on the $25 over the clothing limit. Retailers can’t split an item into parts to get under a cap, and accessories such as handbags, jewelry, watches, wallets and sunglasses don’t qualify at any price. Alterations and rentals are taxable during the holiday too.

In Huntington, a $150 pair of shoes bought during the holiday still costs $10.50 in tax. A $120 jacket costs nothing.

West Virginia quick reference

These examples assume a purchase inside a 7% municipality such as Charleston.

Use tax on out-of-state and online purchases

West Virginia use tax applies to goods and services used in the state when the applicable sales tax was not paid. That includes the municipal tax: residents of a 7% town owe 7% on untaxed items they bring home or have delivered. Remote sellers and marketplace facilitators that meet West Virginia’s thresholds collect the tax at checkout, so use tax mostly comes up with smaller sellers.

Example: a $800 riding mower bought in a state that charged no tax, used at a home in Morgantown, owes $56.00 of use tax. Outside a taxing municipality it owes $48.00.

Buying a car: the 6% titling tax

Vehicles are taxed through the DMV, not at the register, with a 6% tax collected when you title the car. If you trade in a car, the tax is charged on the net price after the trade-in. The trade-in must be titled in West Virginia in exactly the same name as the new vehicle. Manufacturer rebates are fully taxable and can’t be subtracted from the price.

Example: a $30,000 truck with a $12,000 trade-in and a $1,500 rebate is taxed on $18,000, which comes to $1,080.00. The rebate doesn’t reduce the taxable amount. Very cheap vehicles are treated differently: if the net purchase price is $500 or less, the DMV charges a flat $30 instead of 6%.