Maryland Liquor Tax: Rates, Exemptions, Filing, and Penalties

Maryland’s liquor tax has two layers. At the wholesale level, the state charges a per-gallon excise tax of $0.09 on beer and mead, $0.40 on wine, and $1.50 on distilled spirits, with an added 1.5 cents per gallon for each proof above 100.¹ At the register, every retail alcohol sale is taxed at 9%, three points higher than Maryland’s standard 6% sales tax.²

Excise Tax Rates by Beverage Type

Maryland sorts alcoholic beverages into three excise categories, each with its own per-gallon rate:¹

Beer and mead: $0.09 per gallon, roughly 2.38 cents per liter.
Wine: $0.40 per gallon, roughly 10.57 cents per liter, applied the same way to Maryland-made and imported wine.
Distilled spirits: $1.50 per gallon, roughly 39.63 cents per liter, plus 1.5 cents per gallon for each proof point above 100.

The over-100-proof surcharge is easy to overlook. A 110-proof whiskey, for example, is taxed at $1.65 per gallon rather than $1.50. For anyone moving high-proof spirits in volume, the proof of every product has to be checked when the tax is calculated.

The 9% Sales Tax at the Register

The 9% sales and use tax applies to retail sales of beer, wine, and spirits across the board, and it is calculated on the full taxable price of the sale. Because the excise tax is already baked into the wholesale cost, that excise amount is effectively taxed again when the retailer rings up the sale.²

Bars, restaurants, and liquor stores collect the 9% from customers and remit it through the regular sales and use tax return. If your business also sells food or other taxable goods, those stay at 6%, so the two rates need to be tracked separately on the books.

Who Actually Pays and Files

The excise tax falls on manufacturers and wholesalers, not on consumers or retailers directly. Every manufacturer and wholesaler that sells, delivers, or transfers alcoholic beverages in Maryland must file returns and remit the tax to the Comptroller. Wholesalers that supply distilled spirits or wine to retail dealers are specifically responsible for the excise on those products.³ The cost gets passed down the chain, but the legal duty to calculate and pay sits upstream.

One useful boundary: counties, municipalities, and special taxing districts cannot impose their own alcohol taxes on top of the state’s. The excise rates above are the only excise layer a Maryland business needs to track.

Monthly Returns and the 2026 E-Filing Deadline

Alcoholic beverage tax returns are due to the Comptroller by the 10th day of the month following the month of the sale, delivery, or transfer. Each return is filed under oath and must detail the type and volume of beverages sold along with the tax owed. If the Comptroller requires it by regulation, a business with no activity in a given month may still have to file a zero return.³

Pub-breweries (Class 6) and micro-breweries (Class 7) have a different trigger. Their tax obligation arises when they transfer malt beverages for on-premises consumption (Class 6) or off-premises consumption (Class 7), rather than on a traditional sale or delivery.³

Payments currently go through the Comptroller electronically. For tax periods beginning after December 31, 2026, electronic filing of the alcoholic beverage tax return becomes mandatory by statute.³ Any business still filing on paper should have electronic filing set up well before that deadline.

Exemptions Worth Knowing

Maryland allows consumers to bring limited quantities of alcohol into the state for personal use without paying the excise tax. The rules differ depending on whether the alcohol comes from U.S. territories like Guam or the Virgin Islands or from other locations outside the continental United States. Generally, consumers can possess up to one gallon at a time under these personal-use exemptions, with a partial exemption on the first quart brought in from outside the continental U.S. after an application is filed with the Comptroller.⁴

Nonprofits can get temporary permits to sell alcohol at fundraising events, and special event permits exist for festivals and public gatherings under tailored conditions.⁵ These permits are issued by the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission rather than the Comptroller, so the application track is separate from regular tax filings.

Penalties for Late or Missing Payments

A missed deadline or an underreported return triggers a percentage-based civil penalty on the unpaid tax plus monthly interest that runs until the balance is paid. Fall behind on several months and the amounts compound quickly.

Repeated violations put the liquor license itself at risk. The ATCC’s Field Enforcement Division monitors compliance and can move to suspend or revoke a license when a business shows a pattern of non-compliance, which effectively shuts down the alcohol side of the operation.⁶

Intentional evasion is a crime. Under Maryland law, a person who participates in evading the alcoholic beverage tax faces a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both, per offense. Federal law adds its own exposure for beer tax evasion: a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both, plus forfeiture of all beer and equipment involved.⁷

Records the Comptroller Will Ask For

Every business handling alcoholic beverages in Maryland has to keep detailed records of purchases, sales, inventory, acquisitions, returns, payments, and credits. Four years is the standard retention horizon and lines up with how far back an audit typically reaches.

The Comptroller’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau runs regular audits to confirm that reported volumes and tax payments match the underlying books. During an audit you need to produce invoices, receipts, electronic transaction data, and inventory logs. If the documentation does not back up the numbers on your returns, the Comptroller can assess additional tax based on its own calculations, and the burden of disproving those numbers falls on you.

1
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-General 5-105 – Tax Rates
2
Comptroller of Maryland. Sales and Use Tax Rates – Sale of Alcoholic Beverages
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-General 5-201
4
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-General 5-104 – Exemptions
5
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission for the State of Maryland. Nonprofit Festival Permit
6
Maryland Manual On-Line. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission – Origin and Functions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5671 – Penalty and Forfeiture for Evasion of Beer Tax and Fraudulent Noncompliance With Requirements