Maine Sales Tax

Maine Sales Tax Guide (2026)

No municipality in Maine levies a sales tax, so the rate never depends on where you sell. It depends entirely on what you sell, and there are five of them.[1]

5 min read • Reviewed by Tax Advisory Team • Verified • Sources: Maine Revenue Services & 36 M.R.S.
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Quick Facts

Sales Tax at a Glance

General rate
5.5% [1]
Local sales tax
None [1]
Prepared food
8% [2]
Rental of living quarters
9% [2]
Short-term auto rental
10% [2]
Adult use cannabis
14% from Jan 1, 2026 [3]
Economic nexus
$100k, no transaction test [4]
Registration fee
None [5]
SaaS
Not taxable [6]
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The separate Service Provider Tax was folded into sales tax in January 2026

Maine’s standalone 6% Service Provider Tax was repealed on 1 January 2026 and seven service categories moved into the sales tax at 5.5%, while digital streaming services joined the base on the same date.[7]

Cable & satellite television and radio Telecommunications & ancillary services Telecom equipment installation & repair Fabrication services Video & furniture rentals Digital audio & audiovisual services
Affected providers had to re-register. A business that only ever held a Service Provider Tax account needed a sales tax registration by 1 January 2026; simply continuing to file the old return leaves it non-compliant on a new tax type.[7]
Estimate

Maine sales tax calculator

Maine · general rate 5.5%
The rate depends on the category, never on the town.
Rate applied–
Estimated sales tax–
Total with tax–

Estimate only. Rentals of pickup trucks and vans under 26,000 pounds take the 5.5% rate rather than 10%.[2] Talk to CrownGlobe about category mapping.

Rates & Registration

Maine Sales Tax Rates, Nexus & the five rate categories

Maine statewide rates

General tangible property & taxable services5.5%
Prepared food & liquor in licensed premises8%
Rental of living quarters9%
Short-term automobile rental10%
Adult use cannabis14%

Every one of these is a statewide rate. No Maine municipality or county levies a sales tax, so a rate lookup by address never changes the answer.[1]

Who must register

Either trigger applies: economic nexus at more than $100,000 of gross sales delivered into Maine in the previous or current calendar year, or any physical presence. Maine’s 200-transaction test was repealed effective 1 January 2022.[4]

A flat 5.5% configuration silently under-collects: because the higher rates are statewide rather than local, no rate-by-address lookup will ever surface them. Prepared food, lodging, vehicle rental and cannabis all have to be classified by category.[2]

Compliance

Sales Tax Registration and Filing

Maine charges no fee to register as a retailer.

How to register

  • Confirm nexus→
  • Maine Tax Portal registration→
  • Retailer certificate issued→
  • Map your rate categories→
  • File electronically

Anyone making casual rentals of living quarters for 15 days or more in a calendar year must register, even where every booking runs through a rental platform.[8]

Filing & due dates

FrequencyAverage monthly liabilityDue
Monthly$600 or more15th of next month
Quarterly$100 to $60015th after quarter
SemiannualUnder $100 a monthJul 15 and Jan 15
AnnualUnder $50 a yearJan 15

Failure to file costs the greater of $25 or 10% of the tax due, rising to 25% after a formal demand, and late payment adds 1% per month up to 25%.[9]

Pricing

Sales Tax & Nexus Pricing

Multi Tax Filing – $50 Per State/Month

ServiceWhat’s Included
Multi-state registrationNexus tracking, permit setup, and state agency coordination.
Monthly filingSales tax returns filed in every registered state.
Exemption & audit supportCertificate handling and notice response.
Get Started with Multi-State Filing
Taxability

Taxable vs. exempt

Maine taxes tangible goods, downloaded digital products and a defined list of services, and since January 2026 also taxes streaming audio and video.[1]

Generally taxable

  • Tangible retail goods36 M.R.S. 1811
  • Prewritten computer software36 M.R.S. 1752(17)
  • Downloaded music, books & filmsProducts transferred electronically
  • Digital audio & audiovisual servicesFrom Jan 1, 2026
  • Cable, satellite & telecommunicationsFrom Jan 1, 2026
  • Each periodic lease paymentFrom Jan 1, 2025

Generally exempt

  • Grocery staples36 M.R.S. 1760(3)
  • SaaS & remotely accessed softwareNot an enumerated service
  • Custom computer software36 M.R.S. 1752
  • Prescription medicines36 M.R.S. 1760(5)
  • Durable medical equipmentFrom Jan 1, 2026
  • Sales for resaleWith resale certificate
Worth flagging: Maine has no clothing exemption. Apparel is taxable at the general 5.5% rate, which surprises sellers used to neighbouring states that exempt it, and candy, soft drinks and ready-to-eat snacks are carved out of the grocery staples exemption.[10]
Reference

Glossary of key terms

Grocery staples
Food products ordinarily consumed for human nourishment, exempt from Maine sales tax.
Prepared food
Meals and ready-to-eat food taxed at 8%; the 75% gross-receipts rule can pull a whole store’s food line into this rate.
Rental of living quarters
Maine’s 9% lodging tax category, covering hotels, cottages, camps and short-term vacation rentals.
Products transferred electronically
Digital products whose physical equivalent would be taxable; treated as tangible personal property.
Digital audiovisual service
Streaming video and audio with less-than-permanent use rights, taxable at 5.5% from January 2026.
Lease stream taxation
The rule since January 2025 taxing each periodic rental payment rather than the lessor’s original purchase.
FAQ

Sales Tax FAQs

5.5% for general goods and taxable services. Maine has no local sales tax, but four other statewide rates apply by category: 8% on prepared food, 9% on lodging, 10% on short-term auto rental and 14% on adult use cannabis.

Yes, effective 1 January 2026. Cable and satellite services, telecommunications and ancillary services, telecom equipment installation and repair, fabrication services and video and furniture rentals moved into the sales tax at 5.5%, and affected providers had to re-register.

Yes, since 1 January 2026. Digital audiovisual and digital audio services with less-than-permanent use rights, including subscription streaming, are taxable at 5.5%. Downloaded music, books and films were already taxable.

No. Software as a service is not among Maine’s enumerated taxable services and does not meet the definition of a product transferred electronically, which requires a transfer to the purchaser. Prewritten software that is delivered remains taxable.

Yes, at the general 5.5% rate. Maine has no clothing exemption at all, which catches out sellers accustomed to neighbouring states.

More than $100,000 in gross sales delivered into Maine in the previous or current calendar year. The 200-transaction alternative was repealed effective 1 January 2022, so any guidance still citing it is out of date.

Verification

Sources & methodology

  1. Maine Revenue Services – Sales, Use & Service Provider Tax
  2. 36 M.R.S. 1811 – Sales Tax Rates
  3. MRS – Instructional Bulletin 61 Cannabis
  4. 36 M.R.S. 1754-B – Registration of Sellers
  5. MRS – Business Guide, December 2025
  6. 36 M.R.S. 1752 – Definitions
  7. MRS – General Information Bulletin 115
  8. MRS – Instructional Bulletin 32 Living Quarters
  9. 36 M.R.S. 187-B – Penalties
  10. 36 M.R.S. 1760 – Exemptions
  11. 36 M.R.S. 1819 – Sourcing Rules
  12. MRS – General Information Bulletin 114 Leases
  13. MRS – Rule 304 Returns & Payments
  14. 36 M.R.S. 1951-A – Reports & Payments
Methodology: Every rate, threshold and deadline is taken from Maine Revenue Services bulletins and the Maine Revised Statutes directly. Where the Department’s summary rate page still shows superseded cannabis and Service Provider Tax figures, the statute and the current bulletins are treated as controlling.
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