SECTION 58.1-609.1. Governmental and commodities exemptions  

The tax imposed by this chapter or pursuant to the authority granted in §§ 58.1-605 and 58.1-605 shall not apply to the following:

1. Fuels which are subject to the tax imposed by Chapter 22 (§ 58.1-605 et seq.). Persons who are refunded any such fuel tax shall, however, be subject to the tax imposed by this chapter, unless such taxes would be specifically exempted pursuant to any provision of this section.

2. Motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, mobile homes and travel trailers.

3. Gas, electricity, or water when delivered to consumers through mains, lines, or pipes.

4. Tangible personal property for use or consumption by the Commonwealth, any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or the United States. This exclusion shall not apply to sales and leases to privately owned financial and other privately owned corporations chartered by the United States. Further, this exemption shall not apply to tangible personal property which is acquired by the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions and then transferred to private businesses for their use in a facility or real property improvement to be used by a private entity or for nongovernmental purposes other than tangible personal property acquired by the Herbert H. Bateman Advanced Shipbuilding and Carrier Integration Center and transferred to a Qualified Shipbuilder as defined in the third enactment of Chapter 790 of the 1998 Acts of the General Assembly.

5. Aircraft subject to tax under Chapter 15 (§ 58.1-605 et seq.).

6. a. Motor fuels and alternative fuels for use in a commercial watercraft, as defined in § 58.1-605 , upon which a fuel tax is refunded pursuant to § 58.1-605 .

b. Fuels transactions upon which a fuel tax is refunded pursuant to subdivision A 22 of § 58.1-605 .

7. Sales by a government agency of the official flags of the United States, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or of any county, city or town.

8. Materials furnished by the State Board of Elections pursuant to §§ 58.1-605 through 58.1-605 .

9. Watercraft as defined in § 58.1-605 .

10. Tangible personal property used in and about a marine terminal under the supervision of the Virginia Port Authority for handling cargo, merchandise, freight and equipment. This exemption shall apply to agents, lessees, sublessees or users of tangible personal property owned by or leased to the Virginia Port Authority and to property acquired or used by the Authority or by a nonstock, nonprofit corporation that operates a marine terminal or terminals on behalf of the Authority.

11. Sales by prisoners confined in state correctional facilities of artistic products personally made by the prisoners as authorized by § 58.1-605 .

12. Tangible personal property for use or consumption by the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired or any nominee, as defined in § 58.1-605 , of such Department.

13. [Expired.]

14. Tangible personal property sold to residents and patients of the Virginia Veterans Care Center at a canteen operated by the Department of Veterans Services.

15. Tangible personal property for use or consumption by any nonprofit organization whose members include the Commonwealth and other states and which is organized for the purpose of fostering interstate cooperation and excellence in government.

16. Tangible personal property purchased for use or consumption by any soil and conservation district which is organized in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 (§ 58.1-605 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 10.1.

17. Tangible personal property sold or leased to Alexandria Transit Company, Greater Lynchburg Transit Company, GRTC Transit System, or Greater Roanoke Transit Company, or to any other transit company that is owned, operated, or controlled by any county, city, or town, or any combination thereof, that provides public transportation services, and/or tangible personal property sold or leased to any county, city, or town, or any combination thereof, that is transferred to any of the companies set forth in this subdivision owned, operated, or controlled by any county, city, or town, or any combination thereof, that provides public transportation services.

18. (Expires July 1, 2022) Qualified products designated as Energy Star or WaterSense with a sales price of $2,500 or less per product purchased for noncommercial home or personal use. The exemption provided by this subdivision shall apply only to sales occurring during the three-day period that begins each year on the first Friday in August and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the following Sunday.

For the purposes of this exemption, an Energy Star qualified product is any dishwasher, clothes washer, air conditioner, ceiling fan, light bulb, dehumidifier, programmable thermostat, or refrigerator, the energy efficiency of which has been designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Energy as meeting or exceeding each such agency's requirements under the Energy Star program. For the purposes of this exemption, WaterSense qualified products are those that have been recognized as being water efficient by the WaterSense program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicated by a WaterSense label.

19. Effective through June 30, 2022, gold, silver, or platinum bullion or legal tender coins whose sales price exceeds $1,000. Each piece of gold, silver, or platinum or legal tender coin need not exceed $1,000, provided that the sales price of one entire transaction of such pieces exceeds $1,000. "Gold, silver, or platinum bullion" means gold, silver, or platinum, and any combination thereof, that has gone through a refining process and is in a state or condition such that its value depends on its mass and purity and not on its form, numismatic value, or other value. Gold, silver, or platinum bullion may contain other metals or substances, provided that the other substances by themselves have minimal value compared with the value of the gold, silver, or platinum. "Legal tender coins" means coins of any metal content issued by a government as a medium of exchange or payment of debts. "Gold, silver, or platinum bullion" and "legal tender coins" do not include jewelry or works of art.

20. Tangible personal property sold by a sheriff at a correctional facility pursuant to § 58.1-605 and sales of prepared food within such correctional facility.

1993, c. 310; 1995, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 1998, c. 58.1-605 ; 1999, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2000, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2002, c. 58.1-605 ; 2003, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2005, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2007, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2008, c. 58.1-605 ; 2011, c. 58.1-605 ; 2012, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2015, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2016, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 ; 2017, cc. 58.1-605 , 58.1-605 .