To get a resale license in Maryland, you register for a Sales and Use Tax account with the Comptroller of Maryland. The account is free, the application runs through the Maryland Tax Connect portal, and processing takes about two weeks. Once approved, you receive an eight-digit registration number that lets you buy inventory without paying the state’s 6% sales tax upfront; you collect that tax later when you sell to the final customer. Maryland doesn’t hand out a physical card. You create your own resale certificate using your registration number and give a signed copy to each vendor.
Before any of that works, your business has to exist in Maryland’s records and stay in good standing. Two agencies are involved: SDAT registers the entity, and the Comptroller issues the tax account.
Register Your Business with SDAT
Start with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, which handles entity formation for LLCs, corporations, partnerships, and trade names. When SDAT processes your filing, you receive a Department Identification Number that begins with a letter (D, F, W, L, T, or Z) followed by eight digits.1Maryland Business Express. Register Your Business in Maryland Sole proprietors who aren’t forming a separate legal entity still need an SDAT ID number to move forward with tax registration.
Your business must be in good standing with SDAT before the Comptroller will issue a tax account. Good standing depends on filing an annual report each year; entities that fall behind can eventually enter forfeited status, which blocks them from operating legally.2Maryland SDAT. 2026 Annual Business Filings Now Available
You’ll also want a Federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS before you start the tax application. Sole proprietors can use their Social Security Number instead, but the form won’t process without one or the other.3Comptroller of Maryland. Form CRA Combined Registration Application Instructions
Complete the Combined Registration Application
Once your entity is set up, the Combined Registration Application is what tells the Comptroller to open your Sales and Use Tax account. There is no application fee. The form asks for:
- Your legal business name, the physical location where you operate, and a mailing address for tax correspondence.
- Your six-digit NAICS industry classification code.
- Names and Social Security Numbers of all owners, partners, or corporate officers. The SSN of the person responsible for taxes goes on the first line.
- The exact calendar date you began or plan to begin making taxable sales in Maryland.
- Your FEIN (or SSN for a sole proprietor).
One point worth knowing before you file: your filing frequency is not what you estimate on the form. The Comptroller starts every new account on a quarterly filing schedule. Your frequency may later shift to monthly, bi-annual, or annual based on your actual payment amounts, and the Comptroller will notify you before changing it.4Comptroller of Maryland. Business Tax Tip 22 – Maryland Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions
Submit Through Maryland Tax Connect
The Comptroller’s Maryland Tax Connect portal is now the standard way to submit the application. The old online system has been retired, and all new registrations go through this portal. Allow about two weeks for processing.5Comptroller of Maryland. Maryland Combined Registration Online Application Paper is still an option: print the form and mail it to the Revenue Administration Division at P.O. Box 549, Annapolis, MD 21411-0001. Expect a longer wait.6Comptroller of Maryland. Our Locations
After approval, you receive a registration certificate by mail with your eight-digit Maryland Sales and Use Tax registration number. Vendors use this number to verify your tax-exempt purchasing status, and the Comptroller runs a public lookup tool where anyone can confirm a number is valid.7Comptroller of Maryland. Verify Sales Tax Exemption – Maryland Tax Connect
Create and Use Your Resale Certificate
Maryland doesn’t issue a physical resale card. You create your own certificate using the Comptroller’s suggested blanket template or any document that carries the required information. Under Maryland regulation, the certificate does not need a specific format, but it must include your name, business address, eight-digit registration number, and a statement that the goods are being purchased for resale.8Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations COMAR 03-06-01-14 – Resale Certificates The Comptroller publishes a sample you can adapt.9Comptroller of Maryland. Suggested Blanket Resale Certificate
Give a signed copy to each vendor you buy inventory from. A blanket certificate covers all future purchases from that vendor, so you don’t have to hand one over with every order. The vendor keeps it on file as proof they were justified in not collecting tax. Without a valid certificate, the vendor is on the hook for charging you the full 6%.10Maryland Department of Commerce. Taxes
The $200 Cash Purchase Rule
A vendor cannot accept your resale certificate on a purchase under $200 if you are paying with cash, check, or credit card, unless the vendor delivers the goods directly to your retail location.11Maryland General Assembly. Tax – General Section 11-408 The rule targets casual buyers who might flash a certificate to dodge tax on small personal purchases. If you end up paying sales tax on a legitimate resale purchase because of it, you can claim a credit on your next sales and use tax return or file a separate refund claim with the Comptroller. Keep the receipt.8Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations COMAR 03-06-01-14 – Resale Certificates
What You Cannot Buy with the Certificate
A resale certificate only covers items you intend to resell or incorporate into a product you’ll sell. Anything your business uses internally is not eligible, and using the certificate to buy it tax-free is a quick way to draw an audit. Common purchases that don’t qualify:
- Office supplies and equipment such as computers, printers, furniture, paper, and pens used to run the business.
- Cleaning and maintenance supplies like detergent, mops, and vacuum cleaners.
- Technology for internal use, including phones and tablets that staff use rather than inventory you sell.
The line is clean: if the item stays with your business instead of going to a customer, you owe sales tax on it. A retailer who buys 50 phone cases to stock shelves can use the certificate. The same retailer buying a phone for the checkout counter cannot. Misusing a certificate to avoid tax on personal purchases is treated as tax evasion, with penalties reaching 100% of the unpaid tax and potential criminal exposure for willful violations.11Maryland General Assembly. Tax – General Section 11-408
Buying from Out-of-State Vendors
Maryland accepts the Multistate Tax Commission’s Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate, so you can present one standardized form to vendors in other participating states instead of tracking down a different certificate for each state. Your Maryland registration number must appear on it, or the vendor won’t honor it.12Multistate Tax Commission. Uniform Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate – Multijurisdiction
Out-of-state buyers of antiques or used collectibles have a slightly different path. A buyer holding a registration from another state who does not regularly do business in Maryland can provide the home state’s registration number along with a copy of that state’s license instead of a Maryland number. Buyers from states with no sales tax can substitute a trader’s license or comparable identification.11Maryland General Assembly. Tax – General Section 11-408
What Happens After You’re Registered
Registration opens an ongoing obligation. You have to file a Sales and Use Tax return for every period, even ones with no sales. Returns are due on the 20th of the month after the reporting period ends; if the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.4Comptroller of Maryland. Business Tax Tip 22 – Maryland Sales and Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions Skipping a filing because you had no revenue creates a delinquency that can snowball into penalties.
Maryland requires businesses to keep all records related to sales and purchases for four years. That includes original invoices, resale certificates you’ve given to vendors, purchase orders, sales slips, cash register tapes, and shipping documentation for out-of-state deliveries. An auditor from the Comptroller’s office can request access during normal business hours.13Comptroller of Maryland. Business Tax Tip 2 – Sales and Use Tax Records
If your business changes its address, ownership, or legal structure, update both SDAT and the Comptroller. Address changes go through SDAT using a Resolution to Change Principal Office, and ownership changes may require Articles of Amendment depending on your entity type.14Maryland Business Express. Make Changes to Your Business Keeping the file current with both agencies keeps mail, and your returns, from falling through the cracks.