Virginia's sales tax holiday is this weekend

Virginia's annual sales tax holiday for back-to-school supplies and hurricane prep items is this weekend.

Why it matters: The tax-free weekend is actually happening before the start of school this year, unlike last year's, which was in mid-October because state lawmakers forgot to renew it .

State of play: From 12:01am Friday through 11:59pm Sunday, a range of purchases are exempt from the state's sales tax , which is 5.3% for some of the state and 6% in the Richmond region (and NoVa and Hampton Roads).

• That includes purchases of school supplies, clothes, shoes, some Energy Star appliances (back-to-school dishwasher, anyone?) and emergency prep items like generators and chainsaws.

Zoom in: The tax-free weekend has been around for back-to-school shopping since 2006, and for hurricane prep since 2015. It includes price caps per item by category.

• $20 per item for school supplies.
• $100 per item for clothes and shoes.
• $1,000 for a generators (and $60 or less for other hurricane prep, like batteries, flashlights and duct tape).
• $350 for gas-powered chainsaws (and $60 for Chainsaw accessories).
• $2,500 for appliances.

Worth noting: Computers aren't included or eligible for the tax-free sale.

Yes, but: The state put together a delightful list of some of the items that are eligible for the back-to-school sale. Here are some of our faves:

• Beach capes and coats.
• Corsets and corset laces.
• Fur coats and stoles, shawls and wraps.
• Girdles.
• Rubber pants.
• Wedding apparel, including veils.
• And our most favorite of all the favorites — garters and garter belts.

The bottom line: If you haven't stocked up on your back-to-school garter belts or hurricane rubber pants, this weekend is the sale you don't want to miss.