Maine Sales Tax Calculator (2026) — Add or Reverse Tax
Maine's combined sales tax rate is 5.50% (5.50% state). Use the calculator below to add Maine sales tax to a price, or reverse a tax-included total to find the pre-tax price and exact tax amount.
How to use this calculator:
- Adding tax — enter a pre-tax price, pick "Add tax to price," and the calculator applies the Maine rate to show the tax amount and final total.
- Reversing (extracting) tax — enter a total that already includes tax, pick "Extract tax from total," and the calculator divides by 1 + the rate to isolate the pre-tax price and the exact tax paid.
- Pick the rate that matches your situation: the average combined rate is a good statewide estimate, but the state-only or maximum-local rate is more precise if you know the exact city or county.
Understanding Maine Sales Tax
Maine's state sales tax rate is 5.50%, with no additional local sales tax in most of the state.
Maine also levies a state income tax, which shapes how much the state relies on sales tax revenue relative to other funding sources.
Groceries
Exempt from Maine state sales tax.
Largest city
Portland
State income tax
Yes
Why Reverse Sales Tax Calculation Matters
Receipts, invoices, and marketplace payouts usually show only the tax-included total — not the pre-tax price. Reversing the calculation matters for bookkeeping (separating revenue from tax collected), expense reports (reimbursing only the pre-tax cost), and price comparisons (checking what an item actually costs before Maine's tax is applied). Because dividing by (1 + rate) is not the same as simply subtracting the rate from the total, doing this by hand is a common source of errors — the calculator above handles it exactly.
Maine Taxability at a Glance
🛒 Groceries
Exempt
👕 Clothing
Taxable
💊 Prescription drugs
Exempt
History & Rate Breakdown
Maine enacted its sales and use tax effective July 1, 1951 at a 2% rate with about 22 original exemptions. The rate climbed steadily over the following two decades, reaching 5% by 1970, and sits at 5.5% today.
Maine's 5.5% rate is entirely state-level — there are no county or municipal sales taxes anywhere in Maine, so the rate a shopper pays in Portland is identical to the rate in the smallest rural town.
Where the Money Goes
With no local sales tax layer to manage, Maine's sales tax revenue flows entirely to the state government, which — alongside Maine's individual income tax — funds the bulk of state services without any revenue-sharing formula for local sales tax dollars.
Business Use Case: Registering & Collecting Maine Sales Tax
A retailer crossing Maine's $100,000 economic nexus threshold registers once with Maine Revenue Services and charges a single flat 5.5% on every sale statewide — with no need to determine a buyer's specific city or county, unlike in most other populous states.
Sales Tax Terms Glossary
Combined rate
The state sales tax rate plus any applicable local (city, county, or special district) rates — the actual rate charged at checkout in a given location.
Reverse sales tax
The process of working backward from a tax-included total to find the pre-tax price and the exact tax amount, using total ÷ (1 + rate) = pre-tax price.
Economic nexus
A sales threshold (in dollars, transaction count, or both) that obligates an out-of-state seller to collect and remit sales tax even without a physical presence in the state.
Marketplace facilitator
A platform (e.g. Amazon, Etsy, eBay) that collects and remits sales tax on behalf of third-party sellers under most states’ marketplace facilitator laws.
Real-World Example
A $500.00 purchase in Maine at the average combined rate of 5.50%:
- Tax amount: $500.00 × 5.50% = $27.50
- Total price: $500.00 + $27.50 = $527.50
Maine Sales Tax Compliance for Sellers
Remote and online sellers establish economic nexus in Maine once they exceed $100,000.00 in annual sales (no separate transaction-count test). Once nexus is established, a seller must register with the state, collect Maine sales tax at checkout, and file returns on the state's required schedule. Marketplace facilitators (Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart) generally collect and remit on behalf of third-party sellers automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions — Maine Sales Tax
What is the sales tax rate in Maine?▾
Does Maine tax groceries?▾
Does Maine have a state income tax?▾
When do online sellers need to collect Maine sales tax?▾
How do I calculate Maine sales tax on a purchase?▾
How do I reverse Maine sales tax to find the price before tax?▾
What is the formula to back out sales tax from a receipt in Maine?▾
References & Sources
Rates last verified January 2026. Maine sales tax rates and thresholds can change — always confirm current figures with the Maine Department of Revenue before filing or invoicing. This tool is for estimation and educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice.
Jordan Hayes
Verified AuthorLead Content Editor & Personal Finance Specialist
Jordan Hayes is a personal finance content strategist with 9+ years building educational finance and health resources. He has written and fact-checked over 200 personal finance guides covering mortgage amortization, retirement planning, tax strategy, and budgeting. His work applies IRS publications, Federal Reserve data, and peer-reviewed research to make complex calculations accessible.