Do I need a sales tax permit in Maryland?

You must be licensed by the Comptroller before you sell or deliver tangible personal property, a digital product or a taxable service in Maryland as a retail vendor, or sell into Maryland as an out of state vendor or a marketplace facilitator. Maryland calls the registration a Maryland sales and use tax license. For a seller outside Maryland, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions during the previous calendar year or the current calendar year. Maryland's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · Maryland

How to Get a Maryland Sales and Use Tax License

The short answer. In Maryland, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to Maryland sales tax is a Maryland sales and use tax license, issued by the Comptroller of Maryland. The sales and use tax license does not expire. The license stays in effect until you surrender it or the Comptroller revokes it for cause.

Maryland Sales and Use Tax License at a Glance

What Maryland calls it	Maryland Sales and Use Tax License
Issued by	Comptroller of Maryland
How to apply	Online or paper
Fee	Not confirmed
Security deposit or bond	Not confirmed
Expires	Does not expire (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location (see Locations)
Local sales tax	Not confirmed
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs a Maryland Sales and Use Tax License

You must be licensed by the Comptroller before you sell or deliver tangible personal property, a digital product or a taxable service in Maryland as a retail vendor, or sell into Maryland as an out of state vendor or a marketplace facilitator.

For a seller outside Maryland, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions during the previous calendar year or the current calendar year. Maryland's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the Comptroller of Maryland. You can apply online or on a paper application. Go to Maryland's registration page.

Maryland requires your registration to be displayed at the place of business.

What It Costs

We have not confirmed whether Maryland charges a fee for the sales and use tax license; check with the Comptroller of Maryland.

We have not confirmed whether Maryland can require security, such as a deposit or bond; check with the Comptroller of Maryland.

Does It Expire?

The sales and use tax license does not expire. The license stays in effect until you surrender it or the Comptroller revokes it for cause.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate sales and use tax license for each place of business in Maryland. A seller with no fixed place of business that sells from vehicles needs one for each vehicle.

Local Sales Taxes in Maryland

We have not confirmed whether any local sales tax in Maryland needs its own registration; check with the Comptroller of Maryland.

More for Maryland Businesses

Maryland resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
Maryland LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in Maryland, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: You must be licensed by the Comptroller before you sell or deliver tangible personal property, a digital product or a taxable service in Maryland as a retail vendor, or sell into Maryland as an out of state vendor or a marketplace facilitator. Maryland calls the registration a Maryland sales and use tax license. For a seller outside Maryland, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions during the previous calendar year or the current calendar year. Maryland's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: We have not confirmed whether Maryland charges a fee for the sales and use tax license; check with the Comptroller of Maryland. We have not confirmed whether Maryland can require security, such as a deposit or bond; check with the Comptroller of Maryland.
: The sales and use tax license does not expire. The license stays in effect until you surrender it or the Comptroller revokes it for cause.
: A business needs a separate sales and use tax license for each place of business in Maryland. A seller with no fixed place of business that sells from vehicles needs one for each vehicle.
: We have not confirmed whether any local sales tax in Maryland needs its own registration; check with the Comptroller of Maryland.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Maryland sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-701&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-701, Definitions
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-702&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-702, License required
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-703&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-703, Application
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-704&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-704, Issuance
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-706&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-706, Duration of license
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-708&enactments=falseMd. Code, Tax-General 11-708, Display of license
regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/03.06.01.33COMAR 03.06.01.33, Out-of-State Vendor
marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/forms/2023/CRA.pdfComptroller of Maryland Form CRA, Combined Registration Application (Rev 11/25)
businessexpress.maryland.gov/start/taxes-and-insuranceMaryland Business Express: Apply for Maryland Tax Accounts and Insurance

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.