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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Maryland 2026: TOT Rates By City
Maryland's default long-stay exemption is four months, but individual counties cut it to as little as 25 days. See 2026 rates by county, Baltimore's hotel-petitioned tourism district, and where properties get compliance wrong.
August 28, 2026
7
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TL;DR
- Maryland has no single statewide-named hotel tax; the state calls the county-level version the Hotel Rental Tax, but individual jurisdictions brand it differently, like Baltimore's Hotel Room Tax and Montgomery County's Room Rental-Transient Tax.
- "Hotel tax," "lodging tax," "occupancy tax," "bed tax," and "room tax" all describe this same charge, layered on top of Maryland's separate statewide 6% sales tax on accommodations.
- County rate caps are tiered by county type: most counties top out at 5% or 6%, while larger charter counties like Baltimore City can reach 9.5%.
- The state's default exemption threshold is an unusually long four consecutive months, but individual counties override it, from as short as 25 days in Carroll County to 30 days in several others.
- No voter referendum is required; county commissioners and councils set rates by ordinary legislative action.
- Baltimore City is the only Maryland jurisdiction with a formal tourism district assessment, a 2% charge that required hotels representing 54% of the city's rooms to petition for it before it could launch.
- No Maryland-specific fee-transparency law was found; only the federal FTC rule currently requires total-price disclosure.
How Maryland's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Maryland has no single statewide-branded hotel tax. State law authorizes each county to impose a Hotel Rental Tax by its own ordinance, and individual jurisdictions then name and codify it differently, Baltimore City's Hotel Room Tax and Montgomery County's Room Rental-Transient Tax are legally the same kind of charge under different local names. This sits on top of, and separately from, Maryland's statewide 6% sales tax on accommodations, which applies everywhere regardless of the local rate.
There's no voter-referendum requirement. County commissioners and city councils set and raise the rate by ordinary legislative action. Maryland's rate caps are tiered by county type rather than one flat statewide ceiling: most counties can go up to 5% or 6% depending on their region, while larger charter counties like Baltimore City and Baltimore County operate under separate authority that lets them reach 9.5%.
The tax covers hotels and, following a 2025 legislative rewrite taking effect in 2027, will explicitly extend to short-term rental platforms under updated statutory definitions, a structural change already locked in for anyone tracking Maryland's rules going forward.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
Because the rate cap depends on county type, and each jurisdiction sets its own exemption threshold, the total picture varies significantly. Here's where the major Maryland markets stand as of 2026.
| County / city | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore City | 9.5%, plus a 2% tourism district assessment | The separate district charge required hotels representing 54% of the city's rooms to petition for it before it could launch in 2019 |
| Baltimore County | 9.5% | Ties Baltimore City for the highest verified county rate in the state |
| Anne Arundel County | 8% | The exemption resets annually, applying only to a guest's first 120 consecutive days of occupancy per calendar year |
| Garrett County | 8% | A Western Maryland code county at the ceiling for its tier, covering the Deep Creek Lake resort market |
| Montgomery County | 7% | One of the few jurisdictions offering an approved quarterly filing option instead of mandatory monthly |
| Prince George's County | 7% | Rate has held steady since at least fiscal year 2022 |
| Howard County | 7% | Also unchanged over the same period |
| Worcester County (Ocean City) | 6% | Raised from 5% effective January 2026 specifically at Ocean City's request to grow tourism-marketing revenue |
| Washington County | 6% | A Western Maryland code county with a 30-day exemption threshold |
| Frederick County | 5% | Uses a 90-day exemption threshold, longer than the DC-suburb norm |
| Carroll County | 5% | The shortest exemption threshold verified anywhere in the state, just 25 consecutive days |
| Talbot County | 4% | The lowest verified county rate in Maryland, covering the St. Michaels and Easton area |
Rates change after a county ordinance vote, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm the current published rate with the specific county before filing.
A separate tourism district assessment isn't a common Maryland pattern, only Baltimore City has one. Its Tourism Improvement District launched in December 2019 after organizers secured signatures from hotels representing 54% of the city by both count and total room count, a real petition threshold, not an automatic city ordinance. It adds 2% on gross short-term room revenue on top of the 9.5% Hotel Room Tax, meaning a Baltimore hotel guest faces roughly 11.5% in city-level charges before the state's 6% sales tax is even added.
Collection and Remittance
The guest pays the tax, and the property remits it, but there's no single statewide filing cadence, each county sets its own. Montgomery County requires monthly returns due the last day of the following month, though it also allows an approved quarterly alternative for qualifying filers. Frederick County requires strictly monthly filing due the 21st, with a 10% late penalty plus 0.5% monthly interest. Worcester County's treasurer mails reports quarterly, but each one still covers and is due for a single rental month, a quarterly mailing schedule for what is functionally a monthly return.
Exemptions From Maryland's Hotel Tax
Maryland's statutory default exemption is unusually long: a stay not exceeding four consecutive months. But this isn't uniform, individual counties override it by name in the statute. Carroll County uses just 25 consecutive days, the shortest in the state. Montgomery, Washington, and Garrett Counties use 30 days. Frederick County uses 90 days. Anne Arundel County takes a different approach entirely: the exemption applies to a guest's first 120 consecutive days per calendar year, resetting annually rather than testing one continuous stay.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With TOT Compliance
- Applying the four-month state default everywhere. Most populous Maryland counties override it with a much shorter threshold, from 25 to 90 days depending on the county.
- Treating Anne Arundel's exemption as a simple per-stay test. It resets by calendar year and covers the first 120 days of occupancy in that year, not just any continuous 120-day stay.
- Assuming Baltimore's tourism district applies statewide. It's a Baltimore City-only assessment formed by hotel petition, no comparable charge exists in Ocean City, Annapolis, or elsewhere in the state.
- Using the wrong rate cap tier. A code county's cap depends on its region, most run 5% to 6%, while charter counties like Baltimore City and County operate under separate authority reaching 9.5%.
- Not preparing for the 2027 statutory rewrite. Maryland's hotel tax framework changes definitions in July 2027 to explicitly cover short-term rental platforms, worth tracking ahead of the effective date.
- Not retraining front desk staff after a county rate change. Worcester County's 2026 increase means staff quoting the old Ocean City rate will undercollect.
Where A PMS Fits Into TOT Compliance
None of the above is about software. It's about a Maryland property tracking which county-specific exemption threshold actually applies to it, since the range runs from 25 days to four months depending on location, and whether a Baltimore property owes the additional tourism district charge. Where a PMS actually helps is in keeping each county's rate and exemption rule configured correctly, and pulling revenue reports by date range for whichever filing cadence that county requires. roommaster lets properties configure tax codes per rate, so a county rate change like Worcester's is a configuration update once, not a manual recalculation on every folio.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Maryland have a statewide hotel tax rate?
No. Maryland has a statewide 6% sales tax on accommodations, but the separate Hotel Rental Tax is set county by county, ranging from 4% to 9.5%.
2. What is Maryland's hotel tax?
Maryland's hotel tax is generally called the Hotel Rental Tax at the state level, though individual counties and cities brand it differently, set locally and layered on top of the statewide sales tax.
3. What is Maryland's lodging tax?
Lodging tax is the same charge as Maryland's Hotel Rental Tax, just a different common name for it, set at the county level rather than as one statewide figure.
4. How long can a guest stay in Maryland before the hotel tax stops applying?
It depends on the county. The state default is four consecutive months, but individual counties set their own threshold, from 25 days in Carroll County up to 90 days in Frederick County.
5. Do Maryland voters have to approve hotel tax increases?
No. County commissioners and city councils set the rate by ordinary legislative action, not a voter referendum.
6. What is Baltimore's Tourism Improvement District?
It's a 2% assessment on top of Baltimore City's 9.5% Hotel Room Tax, formed in 2019 after hotels representing 54% of the city's rooms petitioned for it, and it applies only in Baltimore City.
7. Who is responsible for collecting and remitting Maryland's hotel tax?
The property collects the tax from the guest and remits it to the county, typically monthly, though the exact deadline and any quarterly filing option vary by jurisdiction.
