Sales to Government Employees

Government employees may use the Maryland sales and use tax exemption certificate to make purchases of goods for the government unit. However, the sales and use tax law does not expressly exempt sales to a government employee who, for example, rents a hotel room or purchases a meal and pays for it with cash, personal check or personal credit card. Those employees are required to pay the Maryland sales and use tax to the vendor.

The tax is due on those transactions even though the employee may have documentation provided by the government agency that the purchaser is a government employee or may be reimbursed by the government for those expenses.

Federal government charge card purchases

Federal government purchases made by using the following charge cards administered by the U.S. General Services Administration's GSA SmartPay charge cards are exempt from the Maryland sales and use tax since they are billed directly to the federal government:

• Purchase MasterCard cards with the first four digits of 5565 or 5568.
• Purchase VISA cards with the first four digits of 4486, 4614, or 4716.
• Fleet MasterCard cards with the first four digits of 5565 or 5568.
• Fleet Voyager cards with the first four digits of 8699.
• Travel MasterCard cards with the first four digits of 5565 or 5568, and with a sixth digit of 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
• Travel VISA cards with the first four digits of 4486 or 4614, and with a sixth digit of 0, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
• Debit/Prepaid MasterCard cards with the first four digits of 5564, 5565 or 5568.
• Debit/Prepaid VISA cards with the first four digits of 4614.

Purchases made by using the following charge cards are subject to the Maryland sales and use tax since they are billed directly to the individual and are not treated as direct sales to the federal government:

• Travel MasterCard cards with the first four digits of 5565 or 5568, and a sixth digit of 1, 2, 3 or 4.
• Travel VISA cards with the first four digits of 4486 or 4614, and a sixth digit of 1, 2, 3 or 4.