ME Maine State sales tax rates

STATEWIDE SALES TAX RATE

5.5%

ECONOMIC SALES THRESHOLD

$100,000

TRANSACTIONS THRESHOLD

N/A

Do you need to collect sales tax in Maine?

You’ll need to collect sales tax in Maine if you have nexus there. There are two ways that sellers can be tied to a state when it comes to nexus: physical or economic. Physical nexus means having enough tangible presence or activity in a state to merit paying sales tax in that state. Economic nexus means passing a states’ economic threshold for total revenue or the number of transactions in that state.

Do you have physical nexus in Maine?

Maine considers a seller to have physical nexus if you have any of the following in the state:

A store, office, warehouse, repair facility or other place of business
An employee, salesperson, contractor or other representative

Do you have economic nexus in Maine?

Effective July 1, 2018, Maine considers vendors who make more than $100,000 in total sales annually in the state to have economic nexus. This means the state considers these vendors obligated to collect sales tax from buyers in the state. Maine dropped their economic nexus transaction threshold, effective January 1, 2022.

Is what you’re selling taxable?

Services in Maine are generally not taxable. However, if the service you provide includes creating or manufacturing a product, you may have to deal with the sales tax.

Tangible personal property is taxable in Maine, with a few exceptions, including grocery staples, some prescription drugs, medicines and medical equipment as well as some items associated with commerce.

Is SaaS taxable in Maine?

SaaS is non-taxable in Maine.

Collecting Sales Tax

Fortunately, collecting sales tax in Maine is fairly simple. The state sales tax rate is 5.5% and Maine doesn’t have local sales tax rates. So whether you live in Maine or outside Maine but have nexus and sell to a customer there, you would charge your customer the 5.5% sales tax rate on most transactions.

That said, some items – like prepared food – are taxed differently. In Maine, prepared food is taxed at an 8% rate.

Should you collect sales tax on shipping charges in Maine?

Not usually. As long as you separately state the shipping charges on your bill to your customer, you do not have to charge sales tax on shipping.

But if you include shipping in the price of the product you sell the customer, then shipping is considered part of the taxable transaction and Maine declares that you must collect sales tax on shipping.

When are Returns Due?

When you file and pay Maine sales tax depends on two things: your assigned filing frequency and your state’s due dates.

How often will you file sales tax returns in Maine?

States assign you a filing frequency when you register for your sales tax permit. In most states, how often you file sales tax is based on the amount of sales tax you collect from buyers in the state.

In Maine, you will be required to file and remit sales tax either monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually.

Maine sales tax returns are almost always due the 15th day of the month following the reporting period. If the filing due date falls on a weekend or holiday, sales tax is generally due the next business day.