On this page we are describing the sales taxes in the State of Maryland, we aim to educate you on the differences that occur throughout the state so you get a better understanding of it in regards to whether you may have:

  • Have taken a Maryland job in the are
  • Applied for a Maryland school
  • Opened a Maryland bank account in the state of Maryland
  • People who may be unable to find their Social Security Card or have lost it.

What is the lowest and highest sales tax in Maryland?

In the map of Maryland is pictured below there are a total of 25 counties that are within the state. You can go directly to the page and see which area has the highest and lowest sales tax in your county of choice.

Allegany AnneArundel Baltimore BaltimoreCity Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery PrinceGeorge's QueenAnne's SaintMary's Somerset Talbot Washington Wicomico Worcester
The state sales tax for businesses and so forth is a standard rate of 6% which allows the local government to be able to collect up to another 0% on top of this:

  • the average sales tax for the entirety of Maryland is 6%,
  • In all County and cities the sales tax rates is equal and this equates to 6% sales tax,
  • This is a brief overview, and we suggest that you go directly to the page if you wish to get a clearer image of the different ranges of sale tax in a particular county. Please note that the ones that have an asterisk means they are below the usual county level of sales tax.

    How to calculate your own sales tax in the state of Maryland.

    So, what does this mean for you, if you are looking into how much sales tax you are going to charged dependant on what sort of county you are residing or working out of. You can go ahead and use a sales tax calculator which will give you a section that is exampled below.

     

    $
    -or- Specify Sales Tax Rate
    -or- Specify ZIP Code
    %

     

    You do need to know the purchase ZIP code and purchase amount in order to get an accurate figure. For an example we will use the amount of $600 and see what the ranges could be from the city with the highest population.

    In Baltimore, MD with the sales tax of 6% would mean that your $600 purchase would incur a $36 sales tax, taking the total amount to $636.

    The sales tax calculator makes it as easy as it can be to find out what sort of sales tax you will be charged by simply adding the amount and the ZIP code. Though there might be some purchases that are exempt from sales taxes or have some special leniency which do need to be taken into consideration.

    City Sales Tax Rate Zip-code Population
    Silver Spring 6.00% 20901, 20902, 20903, 20904, 20905, 20906, 20907, 20910, 20911, 20914, 20915, 20916, 20918, 20993, 20997 232439
    Hyattsville 6.00% 20782, 20783, 20784, 20785 105145
    Frederick 6.00% 21701, 21702, 21703, 21704, 21705, 21709 98889
    Columbia 6.00% 21044, 21045, 21046 80609
    Gaithersburg 6.00% 20877, 20878, 20883, 20884, 20885, 20899 79724
    Upper Marlboro 6.00% 20772, 20774, 20775, 20792 70613
    Germantown 6.00% 20874, 20875, 20876 70044
    Ellicott City 6.00% 21041, 21042, 21043 69322
    Bethesda 6.00% 20810, 20811, 20814, 20816, 20817, 20824, 20827, 20889, 20892, 20894 67658
    Glen Burnie 6.00% 21060, 21061, 21062 66129
    Waldorf 6.00% 20601, 20602, 20603, 20604 62135
    Parkville 6.00% 21234 56528
    Pasadena 6.00% 21122, 21123 52349

    Rockville

    6.00% 20847, 20848, 20849, 20850, 20851 49094

    Salisbury

    6.00% 21801, 21802, 21803, 21804 48824

    Westminster

    6.00% 21157, 21158 48352

    Potomac

    6.00% 20854, 20859 44511

    Dundalk

    6.00% 21222 44123

    Owings Mills

    6.00% 21117 43195

    Fort Washington

    6.00% 20744, 20749 42027

    Bowie

    6.00% 20715, 20716, 20717, 20718 39285

    Catonsville

    6.00% 21228 39088

    Gwynn Oak

    6.00% 21207 36682

    Essex

    6.00% 21221 33943

    Lutherville Timonium

    6.00% 21093, 21094 33490

    Nottingham

    6.00% 21236 33445

    Sykesville

    6.00% 21784 33098

    Middle River

    6.00% 21220 31809

    District Heights

    6.00% 20747, 20753 31189

    Lanham

    6.00% 20703, 20706 31002

    Temple Hills

    6.00% 20748, 20757 30898

    Clinton

    6.00% 20735 30519

    Capitol Heights

    6.00% 20743, 20790, 20791 30156

    Cumberland

    6.00% 21501, 21502, 21503, 21505 30055

    Reisterstown

    6.00% 21136 28903

    Towson

    6.00% 21204, 21252, 21286 28191

    Pikesville

    6.00% 21208 28007

    Windsor Mill

    6.00% 21244 27753

    Montgomery Village

    6.00% 20886 27103

    Severn

    6.00% 21144 27098

    Laurel

    6.00% 20707, 20725, 20726 26679

    Halethorpe

    6.00% 21227 26627

    Mount Airy

    6.00% 21771 26546

    Hagerstown

    6.00% 21742, 21746 25720

    Abingdon

    6.00% 21009 25308

    Chevy Chase

    6.00% 20815 24927

    Bel Air

    6.00% 21015 24922

    Odenton

    6.00% 21113 24516

    Rosedale

    6.00% 21237 24396

    Why do I need to collect sales tax in Maryland?

    You will need to collect sales tax if you have any sort of nexus there, and what this means is that if you have assets that are physical or economic then you need to do this.

    Physical meaning having a tangible activity or some sort of presence in any of the states of Maryland, economic nexus is simply passing the states’ economic threshold for total revenue, or the maximum number of transactions that can occur in the period of time within the state.

    Two easy ways to see if you have either a physical or economic nexus in any of the counties is the following:
    Physical:

    • Tangible personal property
    • Business assets or property
    • Own, renting properties
    • Made more than $500,000 in a service or content delivery in the state

    Economic:

    • Made more than $100,000 in sales annually
    • More than 200 transactions in the last calendar year

    How do I get a sales tax permit?

    The main way to go about this is to register online at the Maryland Business Gateway. Follow the steps that are presented to you and ensure that you have the following to hand to use as information:

    • Business identification information
    • Business entity
    • Location/s that you will be conducting this from
    • Date you will start collecting Maryland sales tax from a business/property
    • NAICS Code (North American Industry Classification System.)

    What is the best way to file sales taxes?

    Before you think of doing anything else there are three things that we recommend that you do in order to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.

    First of all, find out how much tax you owe (remember the sales tax calculator we mentioned before) so that you know how much you need to pay the state at the end. Second is get onto the Maryland Department Of Taxation ready to submit them, and third have the money ready so you can make the payment straight away.

    There are two main options as well to filing and paying your Maryland sales tax, these are:

    • Filing online. This is where merchants are required to file all of their sales taxes through the department of taxation in the state of Maryland, you can also pay your taxes on this platform, so it is one to keep close to you for future reference.
    • Filing by mail. Simply fill out the form UST-1, but this is not the recommended way of filing your taxes due to the possibilities of them getting lost in the post and then it could mean that you are subject to late fees if they are not filed within the allotted time.

    We hope this document was able to allow you to feel more confident when it comes to sales tax in the state of Maryland depending on where you operate out of.