When is Maryland's tax-free week in 2027?

The statute sets it as the seven days from the second Sunday in August through the following Saturday, which gives August 8 to 14, 2027. The Comptroller's 2026 FAQ listed August 9 to 15, 2026, and no 2027 dates were published when we checked, so wait for the announcement before you commit. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Comptroller of Maryland.

Is a 110 dollar jacket tax free if I add a 10 dollar coupon?

If the coupon is your own store's discount, the Comptroller says it reduces the sales price and the jacket qualifies at 100 dollars. If the coupon is a manufacturer's coupon or one that a third party reimburses, the price for tax purposes stays 110 dollars and the jacket is taxed in full.

Do three items priced at 60 dollars each qualify even though the order is 180 dollars?

Yes. The Comptroller's FAQ says each qualifying article priced at 100 dollars or less is exempt regardless of how many are sold at the same time, and gives two 60 dollar sweaters as an example.

Does the tax-free week cover digital goods?

No. The August exemption covers clothing, footwear and backpacks. Maryland taxes digital products and digital codes at 6 percent since March 14, 2021, and a downloadable item sold in the week is not part of the holiday.

Do I need to collect Maryland tax if I sell from another state?

For digital products, the Comptroller's tip sets a test of more than 100,000 dollars of Maryland revenue or 200 or more separate transactions in the previous or the current calendar year. Confirm the rule for physical goods with the Comptroller. This is not tax advice.

Maryland: a tax-free week with a per-item cap, and a second holiday in February

Maryland runs two tax holidays in two different seasons, and neither works like a store-wide sale. In August, Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week removes the 6 percent sales tax from clothing and footwear priced at 100 dollars or less per item, plus the first 40 dollars of a backpack, and the cap applies to each item, not to the order. In February, a three-day weekend does the same for solar water heaters and a short list of Energy Star appliances. Add a digital products tax that took effect in 2021 and a port that handles more farm and construction machinery than any other in the country, and the state gives a Shopify store more to plan around than its flat rate suggests. This page covers the rules that decide whether an offer qualifies, the way store coupons and sets interact with the 100 dollar cap, and a buy-three plan that keeps every item under it.

Updated October 10, 2026 · 14 sourced facts

Photo: Petty Officer 1st Class Tara Molle-Carr, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week

For seven days from the second Sunday in August, clothing and footwear priced at 100 dollars or less per item are exempt from the 6 percent sales tax, and so is the first 40 dollars of a backpack or bookbag. The 2026 week ran from August 9 to 15. Applying the statute's rule to 2027 gives August 8 to 14, though the Comptroller had not announced those dates when we checked. A second, separate holiday covers Energy Star appliances for three days in February.

Clothing and footwear priced at 100 dollars or less each
The first 40 dollars of a backpack or bookbag
Online orders paid during the week and accepted for immediate shipment

Watch out: The cap is per item and all-or-nothing: an item at 110 dollars is taxed on all 110 dollars. Accessories such as jewelry, handbags, scarves and ties stay taxable, and a set sold at one price is taxed in full. A retailer's own coupon that brings an item to 100 dollars or less counts, a manufacturer's coupon does not. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Comptroller of Maryland.

Source: Maryland Code, Tax-General, section 11-228 (back-to-school sales tax exemption)

A buy-three plan that keeps every item under the cap

Before the week, when you pick the items
Build the offer only from clothing and footwear priced at 100 dollars or less before any discount. The Comptroller's FAQ that we read does not say how a buy-three, cheapest-free offer is treated, so do not count on the discount to bring an item under the cap. A cart where every item is already under 100 dollars qualifies on its own.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026
When you name the offer
Do not sell the three items as a boxed set at one price. The Comptroller says a set priced as one unit is taxable in full unless the pieces are priced separately, so keep each item on its own line at its own price and apply the cheapest-free discount at the cart.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026
If you also run coupons
Use your own store discounts, which the Comptroller says can bring a price to 100 dollars or less, and do not count on a manufacturer's coupon or any coupon that a third party reimburses, because it does not lower the price for the cap.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026
On the first and last day
Open the offer on the first Sunday and end it on the Saturday night, in your store's time zone, and accept orders for immediate shipment so that an order placed late on Saturday still qualifies. Backorders are not eligible.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026
If your gift or bundle is a download
Maryland has taxed digital products and digital codes at 6 percent since March 14, 2021. If a free gift or a bundle includes a downloadable item, ask the Comptroller how it is treated before you advertise the total.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Business Tax Tip 29, Sales of Digital Products and Digital Codes
In February
Check whether you sell any of the Energy Star products on the Comptroller's list. If you do, schedule a three-day price event for the February weekend, with the dates set after the Comptroller announces them.
Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Shop Maryland Energy FAQs (2026)

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Questions merchants ask

When is Maryland's tax-free week in 2027?: The statute sets it as the seven days from the second Sunday in August through the following Saturday, which gives August 8 to 14, 2027. The Comptroller's 2026 FAQ listed August 9 to 15, 2026, and no 2027 dates were published when we checked, so wait for the announcement before you commit. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Comptroller of Maryland.
Is a 110 dollar jacket tax free if I add a 10 dollar coupon?: If the coupon is your own store's discount, the Comptroller says it reduces the sales price and the jacket qualifies at 100 dollars. If the coupon is a manufacturer's coupon or one that a third party reimburses, the price for tax purposes stays 110 dollars and the jacket is taxed in full.
Do three items priced at 60 dollars each qualify even though the order is 180 dollars?: Yes. The Comptroller's FAQ says each qualifying article priced at 100 dollars or less is exempt regardless of how many are sold at the same time, and gives two 60 dollar sweaters as an example.
Does the tax-free week cover digital goods?: No. The August exemption covers clothing, footwear and backpacks. Maryland taxes digital products and digital codes at 6 percent since March 14, 2021, and a downloadable item sold in the week is not part of the holiday.
Do I need to collect Maryland tax if I sell from another state?: For digital products, the Comptroller's tip sets a test of more than 100,000 dollars of Maryland revenue or 200 or more separate transactions in the previous or the current calendar year. Confirm the rule for physical goods with the Comptroller. This is not tax advice.

Shipping into the state

For an online order, the date that counts is the date of payment and acceptance for immediate shipment, so an order paid on Saturday night, August 14, 2027, and accepted for immediate shipment can qualify even if it arrives after the week, while a backorder charged only when it ships after the week does not. Maryland's port is the freight story: the Port of Baltimore handled 848,628 tons of farm and construction machinery in 2025 and 728,225 auto units, which makes the state more of a heavy-cargo gateway than a parcel hub. A store that imports by container should still plan around the 1.1 million TEUs the port handled in the same year.

Source: Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026

Source: Maryland Port Administration: Foreign Commerce Statistical Report 2025

The year at a glance

Dates to plan around

Aug 8, 2027 to Aug 14, 2027Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week (second Sunday of August through Saturday)Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026

Facts and sources

State law makes the seven days from the second Sunday in August through the following Saturday a tax-free period for clothing or footwear, excluding accessory items, with a taxable price of 100 dollars or less, and for the first 40 dollars of the taxable price of a backpack or bookbag.
Maryland Code, Tax-General, section 11-228 (back-to-school sales tax exemption) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Comptroller's 2026 FAQ says Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week ran from 12:01 a.m. Sunday, August 9, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, August 15, 2026; by the statute's second-Sunday rule the 2027 week falls on August 8 to 14, and the Comptroller had published no 2027 dates when we checked.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
Each qualifying article of clothing or footwear selling for 100 dollars or less is exempt no matter how many are bought together, so two 60 dollar sweaters are both exempt; an item priced above 100 dollars is taxed on its entire price, and a suit at 110 dollars owes tax on all 110 dollars.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
Unless the pieces in a set are priced separately, the full price of the set is taxable: a boxed gift set with a shirt and a tie sold for a single price of 80 dollars is taxed in full, even though the shirt would be exempt on its own.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
A retailer's own discount or coupon that brings an item's price down to 100 dollars or less qualifies it for the exemption, but a manufacturer's coupon, or any coupon a third party reimburses, is subtracted after the tax is figured and does not lower the price for the 100 dollar test.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
An online item qualifies when the customer pays for it and it is delivered during the tax-free week, or when the customer orders and pays during the week and the retailer accepts the order for immediate shipment, even if delivery comes after the week; a backordered item, or one the retailer does not charge until it ships after the week, does not qualify.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
Shop Maryland Energy Weekend is an annual three-day period in February, and in 2026 it ran from 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 14, through 11:59 p.m. Monday, February 16, when the sales and use tax did not apply to solar water heaters and certain Energy Star products such as air conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, furnaces, heat pumps and standard refrigerators.
Comptroller of Maryland: Shop Maryland Energy FAQs (2026) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Comptroller's FAQ states Maryland's sales and use tax rate as 6 percent, and on a backpack only the part of the price above the 40 dollar exemption is taxed, so a 41 dollar backpack owes 6 cents.
Comptroller of Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions About Tax-Free Week, August 9-15, 2026 (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Comptroller's Business Tax Tip 29 says that, effective March 14, 2021, the Maryland sales and use tax applies to the sale or use of a digital product or a digital code, at a rate of 6 percent.
Comptroller of Maryland: Business Tax Tip 29, Sales of Digital Products and Digital Codes (accessed October 10, 2026)
Business Tax Tip 29 treats an out-of-state vendor as doing business in Maryland for digital products if, in the previous or the current calendar year, its gross revenue from digital codes or products delivered in the state exceeds 100,000 dollars or it made 200 or more separate transactions into the state.
Comptroller of Maryland: Business Tax Tip 29, Sales of Digital Products and Digital Codes (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Port of Baltimore handled 848,628 tons of roll-on/roll-off farm and construction machinery in 2025, which the Maryland Port Administration says was again number one among all U.S. ports.
Maryland Port Administration: Foreign Commerce Statistical Report 2025 (accessed October 10, 2026)
The same report counts 728,225 auto units and 1.1 million TEUs of containers handled by the Port of Baltimore in 2025, and ranks it 11th among U.S. ports by foreign cargo tonnage.
Maryland Port Administration: Foreign Commerce Statistical Report 2025 (accessed October 10, 2026)
Maryland has 9,707 square miles of land area.
U.S. Census Bureau: State Area Measurements (2010) (accessed October 10, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts Maryland's resident population at 6,265,347 on July 1, 2025.
U.S. Census Bureau: Vintage 2025 state population estimates (accessed October 10, 2026)

Cities in Maryland

BaltimoreBaltimore has a maker network, a market that says it dates to 1782 and a Preakness week in May 2027. A fixed local-makers gift box plan for Shopify.

Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.

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