According to Maryland Instructions for Form 502, you are required to file a Maryland Income Tax Return if you are or were a Maryland resident, you are required to file a federal return and your Maryland gross income equals or exceeds the allowed amount for your filing status.
Filing Requirements:
- Single
- under age 65, Gross Income is at least $12,950
- age 65 or older, Gross Income is at least $14,700
- Head of Household
- under age 65, Gross Income is at least $19,400
- age 65 or older, Gross Income is at least $21,150
- Married Filing Jointly
- both under age 65, Gross Income is at least $25,900
- one spouse age 65 or older, Gross Income is at least $27,300
- both age 65 or older, Gross Income is at least $28,700
- Married Filing Separately
- under age 65, Gross income at least $12,950
- age 65 or older, Gross income is at least $12,950
- Qualifying Widow(er)
- under age 65, Gross Income is at least $25,900
- age 65 or older, Gross Income is at least $27,300
What if I do not file a federal return?
Even if you are not required to file a federal return, you may be required to file a Maryland return if your Maryland addition modifications added to your gross income exceed the filing requirement for your filing status. Dependent taxpayers must take into account both their additions to and subtractions from income to determine their gross income.
Senior Citizens:
As a senior citizen, one of the tax benefits you enjoy is a higher income allowance before you are required to file a Maryland income tax return. These requirements apply to both resident and nonresident taxpayers. Do not include income from Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits when determining your gross income.
If you or your spouse is 65 or over or blind, you are entitled to an extra $1,000 personal exemption, in addition to the regular personal exemption that you may be entitled to. If you have a federal adjusted gross income of up to $100,000 (up to $150,000 if filing jointly) you are entitled to a $3,200 exemption on the Maryland return for each exemption you are qualified to claim on the federal return.
What if one Spouse is a resident and the other is a nonresident?
If you and your spouse file a joint federal return but are filing separate Maryland returns according to Instruction 8, you should report the income you would have reported had you filed a separate federal return. The income from jointly held securities, property, etc., must be divided evenly between spouses.
If you itemized your deductions on the joint federal return, one spouse may use the standard deduction and the other spouse may claim those deductions on the federal return that are “attributable exclusively” to that spouse, plus a prorated amount of the remaining deductions. If it is not possible to determine these deductions, the deduction must be allocated proportionately based on your share of the income.
According to the MD instructions, married filing joint individuals filing a resident return must use the same deduction method as used on the federal return. If you filed using the standard deduction on the Federal return- use the standard method on the state return. If you itemized on the Federal return- itemize on the state return.