Maryland has one statewide sales tax rate, with no county or city add-on, which makes it simpler than most states. The 2025 budget law (Chapter 604) added a new 3% tax on data and IT services and repealed several exemptions, so older summaries are now out of date.
This guide sets out the rates in the Tax-General Article, what is exempt, how the new IT services tax works, how use tax applies to out-of-state purchases and what changes from 2026 to 2027, using the Comptroller of Maryland's own publications and the statute text read on 2 November 2026.
The Comptroller's Business Tax Tip 8 (dated January 2022) states: "The Maryland sales and use tax rate is 6% on taxable sales." The same tip says there are no general local sales taxes in Maryland, so the state rate is the rate you pay in every county and in Baltimore City. Some categories carry a different rate set in Tax-General Article 11-104.
| What is sold | Rate |
|---|---|
| Most taxable goods and digital products | 6% |
| Alcoholic beverages | 9% of the charge for the beverage (6% on separately stated labor or service, material or property charges connected with the sale) |
| Taxable data, information technology and software publishing services | 3% |
| Cannabis and cannabis products | 12% (from 9%, effective 1 July 2025) |
The statute adds that if more than one rate could apply to a sale of goods, a digital code, a digital product or a taxable service, the higher rate applies. Other special rates (vehicle rentals, vaping products, tobacco pipes) are set in the same section; check Article 11-104 for those.
Maryland does not simply multiply by 6% and round. Article 11-104 sets a schedule: 6 cents for each exact dollar of taxable price, plus a bracketed amount for the cents above the dollar (1 cent for 1 to 16 cents, 2 cents for 17 to 33, 3 cents for 34 to 50, 4 cents for 51 to 66, 5 cents for 67 to 83 and 6 cents for 84 cents or more). Under $1 the schedule is 1 cent at 20 cents, 2 cents from 21 cents, 3 cents from 34, 4 cents from 51, 5 cents from 67 and 6 cents from 84.
| Our illustration: taxable price | Tax on the statutory schedule | Flat 6% (unrounded) |
|---|---|---|
| $0.20 | $0.01 | $0.0120 |
| $0.50 | $0.03 | $0.0300 |
| $1.00 | $0.06 | $0.0600 |
| $1.50 | $0.09 | $0.0900 |
| $19.99 | $1.20 | $1.1994 |
| $49.99 | $3.00 | $2.9994 |
| $100.00 | $6.00 | $6.0000 |
These are our calculations from the statutory schedule, not official figures. The schedule produces results that differ slightly from a flat 6%, which is why registers use the Comptroller's rate chart.
Exemptions are set in the Tax-General Article. As the statute reads (read November 2026):
The statute contains many more specific exemptions (for example for particular organizations and equipment); this guide covers the ones most shoppers meet. For anything else, check the Tax-General Article, Title 11, Subtitle 2.
Section 4 of Chapter 604 of the Acts of 2025, effective 1 July 2025, expanded the services subject to sales and use tax to include data services, information technology services, and system and application software publishing services described in the 2022 NAICS manual under sectors 518 and 519 and subsectors 5132 and 5415. The Comptroller's tax alert states: "The law imposes a 3.0% sales and use tax rate on a sale of these services."
Software as a service (SaaS) is where rates meet. The Comptroller's Technical Bulletin 56 says SaaS sold for individual use is taxed at the 6% rate, and the same SaaS is taxed at the 3% rate when sold for use in an enterprise computer system. This follows the higher-rate rule above.
Related 2025 changes in the same law: the exemption for custom computer software, and for services relating to custom computer software, was repealed effective 1 July 2025; so were exemptions for vending machine snack foods and for photographic material used in printing; and the exemption for precious metal bullion or coins over $1,000 was repealed except for sales at the Baltimore Convention Center. New exemptions include cloud computing sold to a qualified cybersecurity business.
Businesses buying a digital product or taxable IT service that will be used both inside and outside Maryland may give the vendor a multiple points of use (MPU) certificate and apportion the use.
Use tax applies when you use taxable goods, digital codes, digital products or taxable services in Maryland but paid less than the required Maryland tax at purchase. Form ST-118, the Consumer/Business Use Tax Return (2026 edition), is the form to report it, and the Comptroller's instructions say the tax is due quarterly, on 20 April, 20 July, 20 October and 20 January for purchases made in the preceding quarter. The line 4 credit covers only sales and use tax paid to another U.S. state, not taxes paid in another country such as European VAT. The form lists separate lines for digital products at 6%, alcoholic beverages at 9% and the 3% data and IT services. A late return adds interest and a 10% penalty on the use tax owed.
The Comptroller's tax alert dated 27 May 2026 lists these changes:
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