Maine Sales Tax Calculator

Maine’s rates depend on what you buy

Maine's general sales tax is 5.5%, with no local sales tax, but several categories carry their own higher rates, so the rate on a Maine receipt depends on what you bought rather than where. The rates below are those Maine Revenue Services lists as in effect from January 1, 2026:

Maine Revenue Services also lists the separate service provider tax as repealed as of January 1, 2026.

Groceries are exempt; prepared food is not

Maine exempts "grocery staples", which the law defines as food products ordinarily eaten for nourishment. That covers fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, bread, cereal, canned and boxed foods, condiments, coffee and tea, infant formula and similar items.

Beer, wine and spirits (including non-alcoholic beer and wine) are taxable, and so are vitamins, tonics, dietary supplements and medicines unless sold on prescription. Once food is prepared, the 8% prepared food rate applies, so the same sandwich ingredients that are exempt in the grocery aisle are taxed at 8% when sold as a ready-to-eat sandwich.

Worked example: a weekend in Portland

Here is how Maine’s category rates add up over a trip. Two nights at a $180-a-night inn is $360 of lodging, taxed at 9%: $32.40. $120 of restaurant meals at 8%: $9.60. A $90 rain jacket at 5.5%: $4.95. A three-day rental car at $65 a day is $195 at 10%: $19.50.

Total tax: $66.45 on $765 of spending, an effective rate of 8.69%. A visitor who only checks the 5.5% headline rate will underestimate the tax on a trip.

To reverse the general rate from a receipt, divide by 1.055. A $52.75 total is $50.00 of goods and $2.75 of tax.

Use tax for Maine residents

If you buy items for use in Maine from a seller that does not collect Maine sales tax, such as a business in another state or country or an unregistered mail-order or internet seller, you may owe Maine use tax at 5.5%. Individuals generally report it on the Maine individual income tax return, and Maine Revenue Services also has a separate Individual Use Tax Return form.

If you paid sales or use tax to another state on the purchase, that amount is credited against the Maine use tax. Buying a large item in a state with no sales tax and bringing it home therefore does not avoid Maine tax; it just moves the payment to your return.

Maine does not hold a sales tax holiday.

How to read a Maine receipt with several rates

Because Maine taxes categories at different rates, a single receipt can show more than one tax line. Take a grocery store trip:

The total tax is $1.38. If a receipt applies 8% to the vitamins or taxes the groceries, ask the store to correct it.

Maine and New Hampshire

Maine's only land neighbor, New Hampshire, has a 0% general sales tax, so stores just over the line in Portsmouth or Conway charge no sales tax. Buying there does not remove the tax: Maine use tax at 5.5% is owed on taxable items brought back for use in Maine, and because New Hampshire charged no sales tax, there is no credit to subtract. On a $1,200 TV, that is $66.00 of Maine use tax.

For residents, the higher category rates mostly show up when traveling inside the state: lodging at 9% and short-term auto rentals at 10% are the highest regular rates on the list.

Common Maine sales tax mistakes

Maine’s category rates are the usual source of mistakes:

• Using 5.5% for restaurant bills. Prepared food is 8%.
• Treating every drink as exempt. Beer and wine, including non-alcoholic versions, are taxable.
• Assuming supplements count as groceries. Vitamins and dietary supplements are taxable unless prescribed.
• Budgeting a trip at the general rate. Rooms are 9% and short-term rental cars 10%.

Reversing Maine’s category rates

To find the pre-tax price on a Maine receipt, divide by 1 plus the rate for that category. A $54 restaurant bill at 8% was $50.00 of food and $4.00 of tax. A $218 hotel night at 9% was a $200.00 room rate plus $18.00 of tax. A $330 car rental at 10% was $300.00 plus $30.00 of tax.

If one receipt mixes categories, separate the lines first and reverse each one at its own rate. Reversing the whole total at a single rate gives the wrong answer.