Is shipping taxable in Virginia?
by April 15, 2024
Please note: This blog was originally published in 2019. It’s since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
There are a million questions being asked about sales tax at any given time. It can be one of the most trying (and tiring) subjects for small business owners, especially the rules on sales tax vary from state to state. Then when you get drill down to specific questions, like whether to charge sales tax on shipping, it can be exhausting. Let’s take a look at how the great state of Virginia answers this question for its small business owners.
Is shipping taxable in Virginia?
In Virginia, if the shipping charges are separately stated on the invoice, they are not taxable. However, if you have a ‘shipping AND handling’ charge on the invoice, even if they are separately stated from the price of the goods, the shipping and handling charge is taxable.
So, if a seller doesn’t want to charge sales tax on shipping, they need to separately list it from every other charge including handling.
Takeaway
You will not charge sales tax on shipping in Virginia, but you will on handling.
Since a handling charge is taxable in Virginia, a seller must list the shipping charge separately from every other charge, including handling, if they want shipping to be non-taxable.
Handling Virginia shipping and handling sales tax with TaxJar
The TaxJar app defaults to the most common Virginia scenario – that shipping and handling is non-taxable. However, if your business does charge sales tax on shipping, then TaxJar’s Shipping & Handling Override allows you to update that in your state tax settings. This will make the Virginia Expected Sales Tax Due Report more accurate. This will also tell the TaxJar API to charge sales tax on Virginia shipping.
Learn more about how TaxJar treats shipping and handling here.
To learn more about TaxJar and get started, visit TaxJar.com/how-it-works.
Please note: This blog is for informational purposes only. Be advised that sales tax rules and laws are subject to change at any time. For specific sales tax advice regarding your business, contact a tax advisor.
