Maryland Tax Filing: State and Local Tax, Form 502 Rules

Updated October 20, 2026

Two layers of tax on one return

Maryland uses graduated state income tax rates. The Comptroller posts a bracket chart, and the rate rises as taxable income rises. Your Maryland return starts from your federal adjusted gross income, so the federal return comes first.

Maryland also has a local income tax. All 23 counties and Baltimore City levy one. The Comptroller collects it on your state return as a convenience to local governments, and local officials set the rates.

• Where you live sets the rate. The Comptroller says local tax follows your home, not your job and not your preparer's location.
• Nonresidents. They skip the county tax. They pay a special nonresident tax built on the lowest local rate in effect that year.

Use the Comptroller's rate chart to find your locality's current rate.

Filing, paying and extensions

Maryland lets you use approved software, a professional preparer who e-files, the free Maryland Tax Connect portal, or paper. The Comptroller also offers free in-person help by appointment at its branch offices. It says e-file with direct deposit is the fastest way to a refund.

The return is due April 15. One rule is special to Maryland. If you file and pay electronically, you still file by April 15, but you have until April 30 to make the electronic payment. A payment that your bank sends as a paper check does not count as electronic. Check the Comptroller's page for the rule that applies this year.

Extensions come in three versions:

• No tax due, federal extension in hand: you get six months with no extra step.
• No tax due, no federal extension: request the Maryland extension online.
• Tax due: file Form PV with your payment by the due date. Send Form PV only when you are paying.

Maryland stops at six months, or one year if you are outside the United States. Our extension guide covers the federal side.

Working across state lines

If you live in Maryland and work in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia or West Virginia, you file your income tax return with Maryland. If your employer withheld tax for that jurisdiction, you file the right form with it to get the money back.

Delaware works differently. Maryland residents who work there file in both places, then claim a credit on Maryland Form 502CR. Attach a copy of the Delaware return. The same form handles tax paid to other states and localities.

People who live elsewhere but earn Maryland income use separate nonresident forms. The Comptroller names Form 505 and Form 505NR. Military taxpayers mark an M on Form 502 and list their non-Maryland military income. Combat zone service brings the same six-month extension the IRS allows. For the bigger picture, read our remote worker guide.

Moving to or from Florida

Maryland calls your permanent home your domicile. You are a resident if Maryland is your domicile. You can also be a resident if your permanent home is elsewhere but you keep a place to live in Maryland for more than six months and spend 183 days or more here. The Comptroller calls that a statutory resident.

If you leave during the year, you are a part-year resident. File Form 502, put a P in the box and list your Maryland dates. Enter your full-year federal income. Then use the income factor worksheet to prorate your deductions and exemptions.

Moving the other way? The Comptroller says a part-year return in your first year of residency may head off a notice asking why you did not file. Keeping a Maryland home after you move can keep you a resident, so read our moving to Florida tax page before you pick a date.

Maryland's rules for paid preparers

Maryland has a Board of Individual Tax Preparers inside the Maryland Department of Labor. The Board says it sets education and conduct standards for people who prepare federal and state returns for Marylanders. Its tools are exams, registration, continuing education, complaint reviews and enforcement.

The Board's registration page lists several routes, including passing the Maryland individual tax preparer exam and documenting 15 consecutive years of preparing returns. The Board's home page links to a Comptroller warning about scam preparers.

The Comptroller does not endorse any preparer. It does keep a list of e-file providers. Before you hand over documents, ask any preparer how they meet Maryland's rules, and check the Board's pages to see who must register.

Paperwork people forget

• Form 502CR plus the other state's return, if you claim credit for tax paid elsewhere.
• Form 502X and your federal return, for any amended return. The Comptroller says changes on an amended return can be reviewed for up to three years from the day you file it.
• Your home's subdivision code. It names the county, city or town where you lived on the last day of your tax year, and it drives your local tax.
• A filing status that matches federal. Maryland generally wants the same status you used on your federal return.
• Pro forma Forms 505 and 505NR, for a joint return when spouses were domiciled in different states on the last day of the year.

Mistakes that bring Maryland letters

• Using your work county. Local tax follows where you live.
• Counting a bank-mailed check as electronic. You lose the April 30 payment window.
• Sending Form PV with no payment. It is only for people who owe tax.
• Skipping the part-year return after a move. That can bring a notice asking why you did not file.
• Leaving out the other state's return when you claim Form 502CR.
• Amending without your federal return attached.

See our tax deadlines page for federal dates.

Working with Zero Fuss Taxes from Maryland

Maryland regulates paid tax preparers, so we confirm that we can legally prepare a return for you before we take it on. If we cannot, we tell you before you pay or send documents. Our Longwood, Florida office works remotely, and a real preparer reviews and signs every return we do prepare.

FAQ

Nearby state guides

Sources

• services.marylandcomptroller.gov/taxes/en/filing-information-for-individual-inco
• services.marylandcomptroller.gov/taxes/en/extensions?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_
• services.marylandcomptroller.gov/taxes/en/maryland-income-tax-rates-and-brackets
• labor.maryland.gov/license/taxprep/
• labor.maryland.gov/license/taxprep/taxpreplic.shtml
• irs.gov/filing/individuals/when-to-file

General information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Rules can change, so check the official sources below. Zero Fuss Taxes is a PTIN-holding tax preparation firm. We are not a CPA firm, enrolled agents or attorneys.