CHARLESTON — With the start of public school just two weeks away for some counties, parents doing their back-to-school shopping will once again benefit from West Virginia’s annual sales tax holiday.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey held a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgeport to announce West Virginia’s 2025 sales tax holiday.

“As you head out this weekend and you’re picking up pencils, you’re picking up notebooks, you’re looking to buy some new shoes or a nice shirt or pants, we want to help you make life more affordable here in the Mountain State,” Morrisey said. “We want to work to make sure your children’s education goes as smoothly as possible.”

This year’s sales tax holiday begins midnight Friday, through 11:59 p.m. Monday. The West Virginia State Sales Tax Holiday traditionally begins each year on the Friday before the first Sunday in August and ends the following Monday.

House Bill 206, passed by the West Virginia Legislature and signed by former governor Jim Justice during a special session in 2019, created the weekend holiday, giving consumers a break from the consumer sales and use tax for certain school supplies, instructional materials, computer equipment, and sports gear.

“This is in law. This (sales tax holiday) here is the second or the third year that we’re doing it,” Morrisey said.

“I’d like the impact to be broad. If more people go out and shop and take advantage of the opportunity here, there’s going to be more savings for the people, and that’s good…But this has been in place for a number of years, and I don’t see that changing.”

According to the West Virginia Tax Division, the sales tax holiday applies to the following items: certain clothing with a purchase price of $125 or less, certain laptop and tablet computers with a purchase price of $500 or less; certain school instruction material with a purchase price of $20 or less, certain school supplies with a purchase price of $50 or less, and certain sports equipment with a purchase price of $150 or less.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, for every dollar spent at a small business during West Virginia’s sales tax holiday, 67 cents remains with the small business, providing both a tax-free benefit for residents and an economic boost to small businesses.

“This year’s sales tax holiday is a great opportunity to shop small and support West Virginia’s small businesses,” said Gil White, state director for NFIB, in a statement Monday. “When you shop small, you keep more of your hard-earned money in West Virginia and strengthen our local economy. As the backbone of West Virginia’s economy, we hope that more people will turn to their Main Street businesses to shop and dine this weekend.”

“As you head out this weekend, remember this: We’re trying to do a little bit more than just save West Virginia families a few bucks,” Morrisey said. “We want to invest in our kids’ future, we want to support local businesses, and we want to build a stronger West Virginia.”

West Virginia has a 6 percent consumer sales and use tax. Dropping the sales tax this weekend for back-to-school shopping could return an estimated $3.5 million to taxpayers.

“I’d like it to cost a lot more, because that means more savings for West Virginia families,” Morrisey said. “I think it’s great to have this tax break.”

During the previous fiscal year that ended on June 30, West Virginia collected more than $1.82 billion in sales tax revenue, slightly more than what was collected during fiscal year 2024 but 1 percent under the estimate set by the state Department of Revenue. Sales tax collections represented nearly 33 percent of the state’s $5.519 billion in general revenue fund collections for the previous fiscal year.

Earlier this year, a 2 percent cut and a 4 percent cut in personal income tax rates went into effect, joining a 24.25 percent personal income tax cut that went into effect in 2023. Personal income tax collections for the previous fiscal year were $2.126 billion, or more than 38 percent of the state’s general revenue fund tax collections for the previous fiscal year. Morrisey said he still wants to explore providing additional tax relief to West Virginians.

“I will also say this: I still remain committed to doing everything I can to lower taxes on hard-working families,” Morrisey said. “I want to get our income tax lower than all the states that we touch, and we’re going to get there.”

(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)