Friday, May 15, 2009
Maryland Tax Issue Update
Millionaires’ Tax Falls Short
The Baltimore Sun and Washington Post both ran articles yesterday outlining that the 3-year 6.25% income tax bracket on individual incomes of over $1 million was falling way short of projections. The Comptroller’s Office reported that, as of April 30, the number of returns filed reporting over $1 million in income for tax year 2008 was down by one-third from last year, while the tax liability reported by those filers was down “somewhat more.” The Chamber opposed the enactment of the new tax bracket, pointing out that it would give Maryland the fourth highest state and local income tax rate in the country. State general fund revenue receipts for FY 2009 currently lag official estimates by about $200 million.
MD Business Tax Reform Commission 2nd Meeting
The Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission held its second meeting yesterday. The Commission was provided a general briefing by staff on the major taxes paid by business, including individual income, corporate income, sales, real property, and personal property. David Roose of the Comptroller’s Office also noted that their office had recently mailed 2,800 letters to corporate groups requesting more detailed explanations of the data reported in last fall’s corporate data reporting exercise. They hope to have better data available by September with which to estimate the fiscal impact of Maryland adopting a combined reporting corporate income tax law. The Commission also discussed potential future issues and speakers for this year’s meetings, which will be on June 4, July 9, September 10, and October 1. Contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if would like a copy of the briefing materials.
SB 552 Signed Into Law
Also note that SB 552 has been sign into law, which will authorize a state tax amnesty program for 60 days starting September 1, 2009. The bill provides for the waiver of penalties and half of interest for certain delinquent taxes. The program is not available to companies with more than 500 employees in the United States (including corporate groups of over 500 employees) or taxpayers that participated in the 2001 or 2004 amnesty periods. See the bill online here (pdf).
