What does Maryland ask of a new house cleaner?
A name filing with SDAT, a decision about whether you will ever clean commercial space, and, once you hire, a fairly long list of employer duties. There is no state license for cleaning homes, and Maryland has no general business license either. What makes Maryland different from its neighbors is a sales tax that depends on the building, not the service, and minimum wages that change at the county line.
Most of the state’s paperwork runs through one office. SDAT handles trade names, LLC formation and the annual report, and the Comptroller handles sales tax and income tax withholding. Both are reached through the state’s Business Express portal, so a solo cleaner can be set up in an afternoon.
Before your first paid clean
- Choose a name and register it with SDAT as a trade name, or form an LLC.
- Decide whether you will take any commercial work. If you will, register for a sales and use tax license first.
- Buy general liability insurance and tell your auto insurer you drive to client homes.
- Get an EIN from the IRS if you plan to hire or want to keep your Social Security number off forms.
- Price your residential cleans with no tax line, then set up booking and card payments.
Before your first employee
- Buy workers’ comp. Maryland requires it from one employee.
- Open an unemployment insurance account and a withholding account.
- Check the minimum wage in every county where your cleaners work, not only where you live.
- Report the hire to the State Directory of New Hires within 20 days.
This page covers what is specific to Maryland. For choosing services, buying equipment and getting your first homes, start with our general guide on how to start a cleaning business, and use the name generator if you are still choosing what to call it.
How does a Maryland cleaner register a trade name with SDAT?
Online or by mail, for $25. Maryland keeps trade names at the state level, so there is no county or town filing. One application covers one name, and it lasts five years.
What the application says
The SDAT trade name application and instructions (revised August 2026) list a $25.00 filing fee. Expedited review is $50 more, for $75 in all, and same-day service costs a $425 expedite fee. A filing is effective for five years from the date SDAT accepts it, and it can be renewed for another five years during the last six months. If you let it lapse, SDAT forfeits the name and you start over with a new application.
A few details trip people up:
- Only one trade name fits on each form. “Bay Breeze Cleaning” and “Bay Breeze Maids” are two applications and two fees.
- A sole proprietor can’t put “Inc.” or “LLC” in the name, because the name may not suggest an entity type you aren’t.
- Every owner signs, and the form asks for a description of the business.
- SDAT checks the name only against other Maryland trade names. Approval doesn’t give you trademark rights.
The personal property question
The form asks whether an individual owner has a personal property account, called an “L” number. SDAT’s instructions say unincorporated businesses that own or lease furniture, tools or equipment, or need a business license, file an annual personal property return. In practice, the 2026 annual report instructions (below) let a business with less than $20,000 of personal property statewide attest to that instead of listing its assets. A vacuum, a carpet machine and a cart of supplies rarely come close.
If you clean under your own name, such as “Danielle Okafor”, you don’t need a trade name at all. Once you add “Cleaning Co.” or a made-up name, file one before it goes on a flyer or a van.
What does a Maryland LLC cost, and what is the April 15 report?
$100 to form, then $300 a year. The yearly filing is Maryland’s Annual Report and Business Personal Property Return, and it is due on April 15 whether or not the LLC earned anything.
Forming it
SDAT’s fee schedule for charter filings lists Articles of Organization for a domestic LLC at $100, with a $50 fee for expedited review. Non-expedited paper filings can take four to six weeks, so file online through Business Express or pay to expedite if you want to open a business bank account soon.
The annual report
The 2026 Form 1 annual report lists a $300 filing fee for domestic and foreign LLCs and a due date of April 15. Its penalty clause sets an initial penalty of 1/10 of one percent of the county assessment for a late return, plus interest. The fee must come with the report, or SDAT won’t accept it.
The 2026 Form 1 instructions add the part that matters to cleaners: if you don’t include a personal property return, you are attesting that the business owned less than $20,000 of personal property in Maryland, measured at original cost. Most new cleaning LLCs fall under that line, so the report is mostly a form and a fee. Vehicles registered in Maryland are exempt and are not reported.
Is $300 a year worth it?
That depends on the risk. An LLC keeps business debts apart from your personal ones, but it doesn’t pay for a broken heirloom or a slip on a wet floor; liability insurance does. Many Maryland cleaners start with a $25 trade name and form an LLC when they hire, sign a commercial contract or buy a vehicle. Our guide on LLCs for cleaning businesses compares the options, and Virginia is worth a look if you live near the line and are weighing where to form.
When does Maryland charge 6% on cleaning? Homes versus commercial buildings
Maryland taxes the cleaning of commercial and industrial buildings at 6% and leaves the cleaning of permanent private residences alone. The catch is how broadly the Comptroller defines “commercial”.
The rule
The Comptroller’s list of taxable goods and services names “cleaning of a commercial or industrial building” among the services subject to sales and use tax. Its guidance on janitorial and cleaning services defines a commercial or industrial building as any building or part of one used for any purpose other than a permanent private residence, and taxes janitorial work along with floor, carpet, wall, window, ceiling and exterior cleaning.
Where residential cleaners get caught
The guidance lists as commercial several places a house cleaner might work:
- Apartment buildings, other than the interior of an occupied apartment.
- Rental condominiums, and builder model homes.
- Condominiums owned entirely in common, hotels, day care centers and medical offices.
It also says every condominium building in a resort area is presumed commercial. If you clean condos in Ocean City, keep proof that a unit is a permanent private residence, such as a signed statement from the owner or a line on your invoice saying so. Otherwise the Comptroller can treat the clean as taxable.
| Job | Taxed in Maryland? |
|---|---|
| Weekly clean of a house someone lives in | No |
| Clean inside an occupied apartment | No |
| Hallways, lobby or gym of an apartment building | Yes, 6% |
| Rental condo or resort condo without residence records | Yes, 6% |
| Office, clinic, day care or model home | Yes, 6% |
| HVAC cleaning | No, listed as non-taxable |
Construction cleanup, carpet care and sanitizing all appear on the taxable list when the building is commercial. If a job doesn’t fit neatly, such as a vacant apartment between tenants, ask the Comptroller before you quote it. Anyone cleaning commercial buildings needs a sales and use tax license, which the guidance says you can register for online. Pure residential cleaners don’t, and they pay tax on the supplies they buy like any other consumer.
If you plan to add offices later, read our guide to starting a commercial cleaning business before you bid, since tax changes the math.
Trader’s licenses, county income tax and other local Maryland rules
Maryland’s local layer is light on licenses and heavy on income tax. Every county and Baltimore City levies a local income tax, but there is no county license for cleaning homes.
Trader’s licenses are for goods
Maryland’s circuit court clerks issue business licenses, the most common being the trader’s license. The Calvert County clerk’s business license FAQ explains that, unless you are a grower or manufacturer, you may not sell goods in Maryland without one. Fees run from $15 to $800 based on average inventory ($2,125 in Baltimore City), and the license year runs May 1 to April 30. A cleaner who only sells labor doesn’t sell goods. If you start selling cleaning kits or gift cards for products, call your county clerk.
Local income tax
Every Maryland county and Baltimore City adds a local income tax, collected on your state return. The Comptroller’s 2026 withholding tax facts list rates from 2.25% in Worcester County to 3.30% in Dorchester and Kent. Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s are each at 3.20%; Anne Arundel and Frederick use income brackets. As a sole proprietor or single-member LLC owner, your profit is taxed at your county of residence’s rate, so set aside both state and local tax from every payout.
When you hire, you withhold local tax at the rate for each employee’s county of residence. A cleaner living in Worcester and one living in Baltimore City cost the same in wages but have different withholding.
Zoning and parking
Counties set home-occupation rules. If crew members will meet at your house or you will park a wrapped van in a residential neighborhood, ask your county planning office whether that fits a home occupation. Many cleaners avoid the question by sending cleaners straight from home to the first job.
What does a Maryland cleaner on payroll cost? Wages, county rates and sick leave
At least $15.00 an hour statewide, and more in three large counties. On top of that comes earned sick and safe leave, which is paid at 15 employees statewide but paid from far fewer in Montgomery County.
Minimum wage by county
The Maryland Department of Labor’s minimum wage summary sets the state rate at $15 an hour, with a $3.63 tipped cash wage only if tips bring the worker up to $15. It lists county rates from July 1, 2026:
- Montgomery County: $18.00 for employers with 51 or more employees, $16.50 for 11 to 50, and $15.95 for 10 or fewer.
- Howard County: $16.00 for all employers.
- Prince George’s County: $15.30 for all employers.
Montgomery County’s rates rise each year with inflation. A 3-hour clean plus a half hour of driving costs 3.5 × $15.95 = $55.83 in wages for a small Bethesda company, against 3.5 × $15.00 = $52.50 in Hagerstown, before payroll taxes or insurance. Price each service area for the wages that apply there.
Earned sick and safe leave, statewide
Under the Healthy Working Families Act, the state’s sick and safe leave page says employers with 15 or more employees provide paid leave and smaller employers provide unpaid leave, earned at one hour for every 30 hours worked. The FAQ adds the details: employee count is the average per month over the prior year, workers who regularly work under 12 hours a week are excluded, accrual tops out at 40 hours a year, up to 40 unused hours carry over without total accrued leave going past 64, and employees can be required to wait 106 days before using it.
Montgomery County goes further
Montgomery County has its own law. Its earned sick and safe leave poster requires paid leave accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked: up to 56 hours a year for employers with 5 or more employees, and for employers with fewer than 5, up to 32 paid hours plus 24 unpaid. So a three-cleaner company in Silver Spring pays sick leave that a three-cleaner company in Frederick doesn’t.
FAMLI: paid family leave is coming
Maryland’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program has a new timeline. The state’s FAMLI registration announcement says contributions begin with the first pay period of January 2027, the first payment is due April 30, 2027, and benefits start in January 2028. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are exempt from the employer share, but you still register, withhold the employee share and remit it.
Workers’ comp, unemployment and new-hire reports in Maryland
All three start with your first employee. Maryland has no headcount threshold for workers’ comp, unemployment insurance applies once you employ one person, and new hires are reported within 20 days.
Workers’ compensation
The Workers’ Compensation Commission’s employer FAQ says that, with few exceptions, every Maryland employer with one or more employees must carry coverage, bought from any licensed insurer or from Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, the state’s insurer of guaranteed market. The fine for going without is up to $10,000. The employer pays the whole premium, and deducting any of it from wages is a misdemeanor. Injuries that keep a worker out more than 3 days are reported to the Commission within 10 days.
Ask for a workers’ comp quote with your liability quote. Our guide to insurance for cleaning companies covers the other policies clients and property managers ask for.
Unemployment insurance
Maryland’s new employer page says you become liable once you employ at least one person in the state, and you register through the BEACON portal. The tax rate page says new employers pay between 1.0% and 2.6% in 2026, on the first $8,500 of each employee’s wages, so at most $221 per employee a year. Table A, the lowest table, is in effect for 2026.
New-hire reports
The Department of Human Services’ new hire reporting page says employers report newly hired or rehired employees within 20 days, through the Maryland State Directory of New Hires.
Employee or contractor?
Calling cleaners contractors doesn’t remove these duties if you set their schedule, supply the products and inspect the work. Read our guide on W-2 versus 1099 cleaners and ask an accountant before your first hire.
What does it cost to start cleaning houses in Maryland?
State fees are $25 for a trade name, or $100 plus $300 a year for an LLC. Insurance and supplies are the larger costs, and wages dwarf everything once you hire.
Government fees were checked on official pages on October 10, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our rough ranges, not quotes.
| Cost item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SDAT trade name | $25 | Five years. $75 expedited. Not needed under your own name. |
| LLC Articles of Organization | $100 | Optional. $50 extra to expedite. |
| LLC annual report | $300 a year | Due April 15, even with no income. |
| Sales and use tax license | Only for commercial work | Residential-only cleaners don’t collect tax. |
| Local income tax | 2.25% to 3.30% of taxable income | Paid with your state return. Not a startup fee. |
| Unemployment insurance | Up to $221 per employee a year | 1.0% to 2.6% of the first $8,500 for new employers. |
| Workers’ comp | Get quotes | Required from the first employee. |
| General liability insurance | $400 to $900 a year (estimate) | Depends on coverage limits and claims history. |
| Starter supplies and equipment | $250 to $600 (estimate) | Includes 6% sales tax on what you buy. |
| Booking, scheduling and payment software | Your choice | BroomBook is $29 a month for up to 2 cleaners, with a 14-day free trial. |
A solo cleaner using a trade name can be legal for $25 plus insurance and supplies, roughly $700 to $1,500 in the first month by our estimate. An LLC adds $100 now and $300 every April. Run your own numbers in the cleaning business profit calculator, with county wages in mind.
Where does BroomBook fit for a Maryland cleaning business?
We make BroomBook, a booking, scheduling and crew app for residential cleaning businesses. For a Maryland owner the useful parts are a service area you control, an exact online price, and hours from clock-ins for a payroll that differs by county.
- Service area by ZIP code or distance, with travel fees shown before anyone books, so you can keep Montgomery County jobs priced for Montgomery County wages.
- A crew link instead of an app. Each cleaner opens a private link with their visits, checklists, the day’s route and clock-in. Hours, tips and commission export as one CSV for your payroll provider.
- Card on file, charged after the clean, into your own Stripe account, tip included. BroomBook takes no cut of payments.
- Recurring visits weekly, every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks or monthly, with clients able to move or skip a visit from their own link.
One honest limit for Maryland: sales tax in BroomBook is a single business-wide setting. You can’t mark one apartment complex’s common areas taxable and the homes next door exempt. If you mix residential and commercial work, bill the commercial jobs separately. BroomBook also doesn’t track sick leave balances, calculate county withholding or file your SDAT report.
Plans are $29 a month on Solo (up to 2 cleaners) or $59 a month on Team (unlimited cleaners), with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. See the full feature list, then read how to get clients for a cleaning business to fill the calendar.