Order flowers from a Maryland florist for delivery to another state and you still pay Maryland sales tax on that order. Maryland taxes the shop that takes the order, wherever the flowers eventually land, and forbids the fulfilling florist from charging tax again at the other end. It is a small rule with a visible effect on the bill, and it regularly catches people sending arrangements out of state.
The tax rule sits in COMAR 03.06.01.18, which deals specifically with florists. It provides that the tax shall be collected on orders taken by a Maryland florist or nursery to be sent to a second florist or nursery, whether the delivery is to be made within or without the State. The other half matters just as much: a florist or nursery making deliveries pursuant to orders received from another florist may not collect the tax, regardless of whether the shop forwarding the order is inside or outside Maryland. The regulation was amended in 2022.
So on a wire order the tax follows the shop that took your money, not the address on the card. If you are quoted tax on an out-of-state delivery by a Maryland florist, that is the rule working, not an error.
Licensing is the second Maryland wrinkle, and it is narrower than people assume. Maryland does not license florists as florists — Louisiana is the outlier that does. What Maryland licenses is plant dealers. Under the Agriculture Article, nursery stock is defined around hardy plants that survive Maryland winters, including deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and woody vines, and COMAR 15.06.02.04 requires a plant dealer selling or distributing nursery stock to hold a valid Plant Dealer License for each sales location, with supplier lists, one year of acquisition records and submission to Department of Agriculture inspection.
A shop selling only cut flowers falls outside that definition on its face, since cut flowers are not hardy plants surviving the winter. Neither the statute nor the regulation says so in as many words, so treat it as a reading of the definitions rather than a stated exemption. A Maryland florist that also sells trees, shrubs or hardy perennials is squarely a plant dealer and needs the license.
The two things that go wrong with flowers are substitution and timing, and both are decided before you pay. Wire orders add a third problem, which is that the shop you are talking to is often not the shop making the arrangement.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Maryland regulations are amended periodically and the plant dealer point above is a reading of the definitions rather than a stated exemption, so confirm with the Comptroller of Maryland and the Maryland Department of Agriculture before relying on either.
COMAR 03.06.01.18 provides that tax is collected on orders taken by a Maryland florist or nursery to be sent to a second florist or nursery, whether the delivery is made within or outside Maryland. The tax attaches to where the order was placed rather than where the flowers arrive. The receiving florist may not collect tax again on the same order.
Not as florists. Maryland licenses plant dealers. Under COMAR 15.06.02.04 a plant dealer selling or distributing nursery stock must hold a valid Plant Dealer License for each sales location, with supplier lists, one year of acquisition records and Department of Agriculture inspection. Nursery stock is defined around hardy plants that survive Maryland winters, so a cut-flower shop appears to fall outside it while a shop selling trees and shrubs does not.
Practically, the shop that took your order and your money. Ask up front whether the arrangement is being made in house or wired to a florist near the recipient, because a wire order puts a second business between you and the result. Ask for a photograph of what was delivered if it matters.
Most reserve the right to substitute stems of similar value and appearance, particularly on seasonal varieties. That is a matter of the shop's own policy rather than Maryland law, so ask what the policy is and get it noted on the order for a wedding, funeral or other fixed occasion.