Sales Tax Holiday for Energy-Efficient Appliances
Administered by Comptroller of Maryland
During Maryland's annual three-day sales tax holiday in February (February 17–19 in 2024), you can purchase ENERGY STAR-certified appliances like heat pumps, refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces, LED lighting, and programmable thermostats without paying the state's 6% sales tax. To qualify, simply buy eligible ENERGY STAR-designated products during the designated weekend period and provide proof of the ENERGY STAR certification at checkout.
You can help customers save on energy-efficient equipment by directing them to the annual February holiday window when qualifying ENERGY STAR products—including heat pumps, furnaces, air conditioners, clothes washers, and lighting—become tax-exempt. Ensure your customers purchase during the specified three-day period (running from the Saturday before the third Monday in February through that Monday) and verify that products carry the ENERGY STAR label to qualify for the 6% state sales tax exemption.
This sales tax holiday, established in 2007 and running annually since 2011, exempts the 6% state sales and use tax on ENERGY STAR-certified appliances during a fixed three-day window each February. Eligible products include air conditioners, clothes washers, furnaces, heat pumps, refrigerators, LED/CFL lighting, dehumidifiers, boilers, and programmable thermostats; solar water heaters and geothermal heat pumps also qualify, though they have alternative year-round exemptions under separate renewable energy law. The program targets residential consumers purchasing qualifying equipment and relies on ENERGY STAR certification verification at the point of sale.
Program details
- Program ID
- 4426
- Effective
- 1/26/2015
- Last updated
- 1/6/2025
Eligibility
- Technologies
- solar water heat geothermal heat pumps clothes washers refrigerators/freezers dehumidifiers lighting furnaces boilers heat pumps air conditioners programmable thermostats led lighting
Program summary
In November 2007, Maryland enacted legislation creating a sales and use tax "holiday" for certain energy-efficient appliances, beginning in 2011. Under the law, qualifying appliances purchased during a designated period are not subject to the state sales and use tax (6%). The holiday time frame is established as a three-day period running from "the Saturday immediately preceding the third Monday in February through the third Monday in February each year". In 2024, the holiday ran from February 17 to February 19.
In order to qualify for the exemption, qualifying pieces of equipment must be designated as meeting or exceeding the efficiency requirements of the ENERGY STAR program. The law defines eligible ENERGY STAR product types as follows:
- Air conditioners (ENERGY STAR designation includes both central and room air conditioners)
- Clothes washers*
- Furnaces
- Heat pumps
- Standard size refrigerators
- Compact fluorescent light bulbs
- LED lighting
- Dehumidifiers
- Boilers
- Programmable thermostats**
The law also lists solar water heaters and heat pumps (presumably including geothermal heat pumps) as eligible for the exemption. However, a separate law offers a less restrictive year-round sales and use tax exemption for renewable energy equipment, including both solar water heaters and geothermal heat pumps. Frequently asked questions about the incentive can be accessed here.
*While the law also defines clothes dryers as an eligible appliance, the ENERGY STAR program does not currently certify clothes dryers.
**The ENERGY STAR specification for programmable thermostats was suspended December 31, 2009.
Contact & resources
- Contact email
- shopmaryland@comp.state.md.us
- Additional resources
Please verify current program details with the administering agency before making any financial decisions.
