Licenses and permits in Maryland

Forming the company is not permission to do the work. Maryland does not issue one statewide license for every business. It does require a credential when the work is regulated, and selling goods has a license of its own.

What’s different in Maryland

• Selling goods requires a trader’s license from the clerk of court, plus a sales tax account. Growers and manufacturers are outside that license. The fee is either flat or based on inventory.
• The statute has two fee systems, and it does not say which county uses which. Ask the clerk before you budget the flat $15³ or the inventory table.
• Home improvement is a state license. Other construction can be the clerk’s construction license. Holding the home improvement license takes the place of that clerk’s license.
• Cottage food has no license, and a revenue cap set by law. Since October 1, 2026, the cap is $100,000¹⁰ a year.
• Alcohol is split. The state commission licenses and enforces. Local liquor boards issue local licenses. The Comptroller collects the tax.

Do this

1. Start with the Comptroller’s license list. It is organized by activity: traders, chain stores, construction, peddlers, vending machines, storage warehouses, and others. This guide does not list every professional licensing board.* If your work is a licensed profession, apply to that profession’s board. The Department of Assessments and Taxation filing is not that board’s license.
2. If you will sell goods, get a trader’s license and open the sales tax account. Unless you are a grower or a manufacturer, you need a trader's license from the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and a sales tax account, before you sell goods. The license year is May 1 through the following April 30. Renew it by May 1 each year. The fee is based on the commercial inventory reported on the personal property return². A new business has to be registered with the department and has to show the department ID to the clerk. The clerk cannot issue it if you owe local personal property tax, or if your SDAT filing is not up to date. A late license adds 10% of the fee for the first month, then 2% for each later month¹.
3. Ask the clerk which fee system your county uses. Under Business Regulation §17-1807, a county that chose a uniform fee charges $15, or $20 in Baltimore City or Baltimore County. A county that charges by the value of stock-in-trade uses the statute’s table. Outside Baltimore that table starts at $15 and reaches $800. Baltimore City reaches $2,125. Baltimore County reaches $1,600³. The statute prints a step for each band. It does not list which counties picked the flat fee.* The clerk is the one who applies the right line. A chain of two or more stores pays an extra chain-store fee. The Comptroller’s page prints that fee by the number of stores and by place. Sales tax registration is on Get your tax IDs.
4. If the work is home improvement, apply to the Home Improvement Commission. A home improvement license replaces the clerk's construction license. Home improvement work still needs the home improvement license¹. Pass the exam before you apply. A contractor also shows at least two years of experience in home improvement or construction, or related education. The original contractor fee is $281.25 for a license that lasts two years from the day the original license is issued, plus $100 into the guaranty fund and a $22.50⁵ processing fee. You also file proof of $50,000⁴ of liability insurance, and you keep it in force. A contractor using a trade name registers that name with the Department of Assessments and Taxation and submits the certificate. Salespeople are a separate, smaller fee on the same fee page.
5. If the work is other construction, read the clerk’s construction license. The Comptroller’s page says a person who agrees to do listed building, paving, or related work needs that annual license. The fee is $15, $30, or $40. The license year is May 1 through the following April 30¹, the same as the trader’s license. If you already hold the home improvement license, you do not also need this one.
6. Selling food from home? Read COMAR 10.15.03.27 and the health department’s cottage-food guidance before you treat it as a permit you apply for. Cottage food businesses are not licensed. They still have to follow county and city rules. Each product needs a label that includes, in 10-point type or larger, "Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations." Before a sale to a retail food store, send the label and proof of a food-safety course to the Department and wait for written notice⁷. Chapter 320 of 2026 caps annual revenue from cottage food at $100,000, in effect since October 1, 2026¹⁰. The health department’s November 2025 guidance still prints the old $50,000⁹ cap, and so does the definition in COMAR 10.15.03.02. Foods that need refrigeration are outside the cottage list and need a food license. The guidance does not allow sales outside Maryland. A city or county can add its own rules, including zoning.
7. Selling alcohol? The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission licenses at the state level. Local liquor boards issue local licenses. The Comptroller collects the alcohol tax¹¹. Manufacturers sell to licensed wholesalers and do not sell to retailers or consumers without the right license. Retailers buy from licensed wholesalers. The commission’s page does not print one fee for every license.* Use the fee for the class you are applying for, and ask the local board what it requires on top. Alcohol sold as goods is also in the 9%¹² sales tax on Get your tax IDs.
8. Keep each expiration on its own line. A trader’s license renews by May 1 each year². A home improvement license lasts two years from the day the original license is issued⁴. Neither one renews on the April 15¹³ annual report. That report is on Stay compliant.

What you get back

A trader’s license if you sell goods and the clerk issues one, a home improvement license if you do that work, a clerk’s construction license if that work needs it and you do not hold the home improvement license, a cottage-food operation only while you stay inside the food rule, and an alcohol license if you sell alcohol. Each one stands on its own. None of them is the LLC filing.