CraftShow Events

Sales Tax for Craft Show Vendors in Maryland

Last researched September 14, 2026 Sources: Comptroller of Maryland Medium confidence

Short answer

Maryland craft vendors must collect the 6% state sales and use tax, and there are no general local sales taxes [3][4]. Occasional sellers can use a 30-day permit; frequent sellers should get a permanent license [4][5]. People who make their own crafts are exempt from the transient vendor and trader's licenses [7][8]. Show promoters must collect exhibitor trader's licenses or affidavits [2][6].

Registration
Sales and use tax license (30-day permit or permanent license)
Cost
Not stated on official pages reviewed
State base rate
6% As of: 2026-09-14 (date checked; page undated). Local taxes may apply.
Event organizers have duties?
Yes
Official registration
https://interactive.marylandtaxes.gov/webapps/comptrollercra/entrance.asp

Who needs to register

  • Sales tax license: "If you will make sales in Maryland, you will need a sales and use tax license." [5]
  • Statute: "A person shall be licensed by the Comptroller before the person may" engage in "the business of a retail vendor in the State" [9]
  • Flea market and event sales are taxable: "Sales made at flea markets are taxable just like sales made elsewhere." [4]
  • Casual sales exemption is narrow: it covers "casual and isolated sales of less than $1,000" [4] and "does not apply to any sales by a full or part-time dealer." [4]
  • Transient vendor license exclusion for crafters: "transient vendor" does not include "a person who hand crafts items for sale at special events, including fairs, carnivals, art and craft shows" [7]
  • Trader's license exclusion for makers: the trader's license section "does not apply to: (1) a grower, maker, or manufacturer of goods" [8]
  • Nonprofits: "Nonprofit organizations must collect tax even on donated goods." [4]

The permit or registration

  • Two options: "You can get either a 30-day permit or a permanent license." [4]
  • Which to choose: "If you sell at only one or two flea markets a year, a 30-day permit should be sufficient." [4]
  • Frequent sellers: "If you sell frequently, you can benefit more from a permanent license." [4]
  • Permanent license application: "For a permanent license, file a Combined Registration Application with the State Comptroller's Office. You can complete it online." [4]
  • Online application: "Complete the interactive Combined Registration Application online to register new business tax accounts." [5]
  • Display: "Maryland law requires that vendors display their licenses at any location where sales are made." [4]
  • Benefit of a permanent license: "Permanent licensees may also deduct a collection fee on the reporting form." [4]
  • Transient vendor license (for non-crafter temporary sellers): "The transient vendor license is free; however, the applicant must first obtain a State of Maryland sales and use tax license" [1]
  • Transient vendor license term: "All transient vendor licenses are valid for ninety days." [1]
  • Exhibitor's affidavit route (trader's license exemption at shows): an exhibitor gives "an exhibitor's affidavit stating that the exhibitor" earns "less than 10% of the exhibitor's annual income from selling the kind of goods" shown [8]

Collecting and filing

  • Rate: "The Maryland sales and use tax rate is 6% on taxable sales." [3]
  • No local sales taxes: "There are no general local sales taxes in Maryland." [3]
  • Tax must be separately stated even if absorbed: "The vendor must, however, continue to separately state the tax from the sales price at the time of sale to the purchaser." [4]
  • Rounding: "Because of the requirement to round up, the amount remitted will almost always be more than a flat percentage of taxable sales." [3]
  • Statutory bracket: "6 cents for each exact dollar" [10]
  • Alcohol: the rate for alcoholic beverages is "9% of the charge for the alcoholic beverage" [10]
  • Transient vendors (non-crafters) risk penalties if tax is not stated: if a transient vendor sells "without stating and charging the sales and use tax separately from the sale price, the transient vendor license is void" [2]

Organizer / promoter obligations

  • Statute: "A promoter may not allow an exhibitor to do business at a show unless, before the show, the exhibitor submits to the promoter" certain documents [6]
  • What exhibitors submit: "a photocopy of the trader's license of the exhibitor" or "an exhibitor's affidavit" [6]
  • Display at the show: "The exhibitor's affidavit or the photocopy of the trader's license shall be displayed conspicuously during the show." [6]
  • Deadline: "Within 7 days after a show ends, the promoter shall submit to the Comptroller the exhibitors' affidavits." [6]
  • Penalty: "A promoter or exhibitor who fails to comply as required by law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor" [2] and "may be fined up to $100.00 or imprisoned for up to 30 days." [2]
  • Exempt promoters: exhibitors need no trader's license if the show is promoted by a church, "a governmental unit" or "a volunteer fire department or rescue squad" among others [8]

Food and other special cases

  • Admission-charging events: "If there is a charge for admission to a flea market, all sales of food are taxable." [4]
  • Candy and drinks: "Candy, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages are not treated as" food for sales tax purposes "and are taxable even when sales of food are not taxable." [4]
  • Farmers: "The tax does not, however, apply to sales of agricultural products such as produce and vegetable plants by a farmer." [4]
  • Exempt sellers: "Sales by religious organizations and sales of food by volunteer fire companies and veterans' organizations are exempt." [4]

Sources

  1. 905 Transient Vendors (Field Enforcement Bureau Procedural Manual) — Comptroller of Maryland — https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/about/field-enforcement-bureau/procedural-manual/900/905-transient-vendors.html — transient vendor license free, 90 days
  2. Types of Business Licenses — Comptroller of Maryland — https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/businesses/new-business/business-licenses.html — exhibitor's affidavit, promoter penalties, transient vendor license rules
  3. Business Tax Tip #8, Calculating Maryland's Sales and Use Tax — Comptroller of Maryland — https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/legal-publications/tips/business/bustip8.pdf — 6% rate, no local sales tax, rounding
  4. Business Tax Tip #14, Flea Market Sales are Subject to Tax — Comptroller of Maryland — https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/legal-publications/tips/business/bustip14.pdf — 30-day permit versus permanent license, display, casual sales, food, nonprofits
  5. Business Tax Tip #13, Opening a New Business in Maryland? — Comptroller of Maryland — https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/legal-publications/tips/business/bustip13.pdf — sales and use tax license requirement, Combined Registration Application
  6. Md. Code, Business Regulation § 17-1811 — Maryland General Assembly — https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gbr&enactments=false&section=17-1811 — promoter duties
  7. Md. Code, Business Regulation § 17-20A-01 — Maryland General Assembly — https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gbr&section=17-20A-01&enactments=false — transient vendor definition, hand-crafter exclusion
  8. Md. Code, Business Regulation § 17-1803 — Maryland General Assembly — https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gbr&enactments=false&section=17-1803 — trader's license, maker exemption, exhibitor's affidavit
  9. Md. Code, Tax-General § 11-702 — Maryland General Assembly — https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-702&enactments=false — retail vendor license requirement
  10. Md. Code, Tax-General § 11-104 — Maryland General Assembly — https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gtg&section=11-104&enactments=false — rate brackets, alcoholic beverage rate

What we could not confirm

  • Confidence: medium. The statutes (license requirement, crafter exclusions, promoter duties) and the 6% rate are well supported. But the current Comptroller guidance on temporary event licenses is on JavaScript-only "Tax Guidance" pages (services.marylandcomptroller.gov KB0010107; marylandtaxes.gov transient vendors page) that could not be fetched as text. The 30-day permit is documented here only through Business Tax Tip #14, which is undated.
  • Temporary license details not verified from a fetchable official page: how to request it (current email or phone), whether a return is due within 30 days of the event, and any "three or more events" threshold for a permanent license. Tip #14's phone number (Special Events Section, 410-767-1540) may be out of date.
  • Registration cost: no fee for the sales and use tax license or the 30-day permit was stated on the pages reviewed.
  • Filing frequency and due dates for permanent licensees were not confirmed from the pages reviewed.
  • Promoter duties under BR § 17-1811 apply to "exhibitors". Whether makers exempt from the trader's license under § 17-1803(d)(1) still need to give promoters an affidavit is not addressed in the sources reviewed.
  • Local licenses: county Clerks of the Circuit Court handle trader's licenses. County-specific rules were not reviewed.
  • Rate: 6% general (Tip #8, undated; date checked 2026-09-14). The statute also sets other rates for specific items (for example 3% on certain services, 9% on alcohol).