Free guide for contractors
Do contractors charge sales tax in Maine?
General information, not tax advice. Tax rules change and depend on the details of each job. Confirm how they apply to your business with your accountant or the state's revenue department before relying on them.
ME Maine
Usually no tax on the invoiceUsually no. Maine treats the contractor as the last user of materials, so no sales tax is added on lump-sum jobs.
Maine Revenue Services treats a contractor as the last user of the materials, who pays sales or use tax when buying them. No sales tax is added to a lump-sum job.
The bulletin's example of an electrician who is not a registered retailer and bills time and materials also adds no sales tax to the customer's charge.
It changes for a registered retailer whose practice is to invoice every customer for time, materials and sales tax, or whose contract passes title to the materials before installation. That contractor charges sales tax on the sale price of the materials.
A contractor who builds and sells items such as cabinets or furniture without building them in must get a retailer's certificate and collect sales tax.
It turns on: whether the contractor is a registered retailer that invoices sales tax; whether the item is built in or sold as a separate item; whether fabrication uses materials the customer provides.
Watch out for
- Since January 1, 2026, fabrication is subject to sales tax when the customer provides the materials and the item is transferred as tangible personal property (Maine IB 4 § 7; IB 46).
- Gravel, loam and similar material delivered by dumping or truck-spreading is a taxable sale, delivery included; grading or compacting it makes it real property (Maine IB 4 § 5A-B).
- Materials built into an exempt organization's real property can be exempt using form ST-A-119 (Maine IB 4 § 3A).
“pays tax on its purchase of the materials and does not add sales tax to the charge to the customer”Maine IB 4 § 1, electrician example