Comptroller Franchot granted extensions for individual and corporate filers and monthly businesses taxes due to COVID-19

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (July 6, 2020) – Comptroller Peter Franchot reminds individual and corporate income taxpayers who took advantage of a 90-day tax filing extension that the new due date for filing and payment is July 15. Earlier this year, the Comptroller took the unprecedented step of extending tax deadlines to mid-July to ease the burden on families and small businesses affected by COVID-19.

“The coronavirus pandemic has been both a public health crisis and an economic catastrophe for many families and small businesses,” Comptroller Franchot said. “The 90-day extension hopefully provided some financial relief to help Marylanders get through this enormously challenging period. As always, my office will continue to work with taxpayers who are facing difficult financial circumstances.”

Individual, corporate, pass-through entity, estate and fiduciary taxpayers who file and pay by the July 15 due date will receive a waiver of interest and penalties. Taxpayers may request an extension to file until October 15, but they must pay what is owed or estimated to owe on July 15. Payments received after July 15 — either partial or in full — will be subject to penalties and interest on the amount due.

So far this year, 2.5 million electronic and paper returns have been filed with $1.93 billion in refunds issued. An average refund is $1,000. Typically, 3.2 million returns are filed each year.

The July 15 extension also applies to certain business returns that had due dates during the months of March, April, May and June 2020. This impacts businesses filing sales and use tax, withholding tax and admissions & amusement tax, as well as alcohol, tobacco and motor fuel excise taxes, tire recycling fees and bay restoration fees. Those filings and payments are also due on July 15.

Individual and corporate taxpayers who need assistance are encouraged to make an appointment at one of our nine re-opened branch offices. Appointments can be made online at www.marylandtaxes.gov.

For additional details, the updated Tax Alert can be found on the Comptroller’s COVID-19 web page.