West Virginia Local Sales Tax Changes

Although the state sales tax in West Virginia is a relatively high six percent, this is generally balanced out by a lack of local sales taxes.  At the moment, out of two hundred and thirty municipalities, fewer than twenty percent impose an additional sales tax.  For a small number of residents, that rate is set to rise on July 1st, 2018, when the towns of Athens, Davis, Elizabeth, and Elkins all begin a one percent local sales tax (for a combined rate of seven percent).

West Virginia requires that all vendors and sellers in a municipality with a local sales tax collect and remit it alongside the state sales tax.  As a reminder to other businesses (e.g. online retailers), according to West Virginia sales tax law, sellers outside the municipality fall under this category in any of the following circumstances:

• They have an office, warehouse, or other place of business within the municipality.  If the business in the municipality is a subsidiary of the seller, the seller is still responsible for collecting the local sales tax.
• They have a representative, agent, salesperson, service provider, canvasser, or solicitor within the municipality.  The representative may be there temporarily or permanently; as long as that person is working under the authority of the seller or a subsidiary of the seller, the seller is responsible for collecting the local sales tax.  According to WV sales tax law, some examples include representatives who take orders for goods or services, perform repairs, or sell, install, or lease tangible personal property within the municipality.
• The seller ships or delivers tangible personal property to locations in the municipality.
• The seller performs any type of taxable service within the municipality.

The West Virginia Sales Tax Department is available to answer any questions you may have about West Virginia sales taxes.