ANNAPOLIS, Md. — If you live in Maryland, you have just under two weeks to file your state taxes.
Many states extended the filing deadline to May for the pandemic, but Maryland was the only state in the country to extend the filing deadline all the way to July. This year, the state is also one of the few states to extend the Earned Income Tax Credit to filers.
“The Earned Income Tax Credit is an anti-poverty tool where we return most of the taxes that are withheld from their relatively meager pay, and then we add a bonus on top if they have kids,” said Peter Franchot, Maryland State Comptroller.
Franchot added that there are thousands of families who qualify for this tax credit between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. This is primarily for filers who make less than $50,000 a year and have children. If you have an ITIN number instead of a social security number, you still qualify.
“We found that there are 86,000 families in Maryland that have an ITIN number, last year they paid us $100 Million in taxes to the state level. So, they are prohibited from getting the Earned Income Tax Credit, by federal law. Maryland, at our request and others, has been one of the first states in the country to allow the state portion of Earned Income Tax Credit to be open to folks that have ITIN numbers. These are folks that don't have the documents to get us a security number, but they pay taxes,” Franchot added.
Franchot said if you qualify, you could receive a check ranging from $2,000-$6,000.
“It's crazy not to provide them with relief given the pandemic's economic consequences, so we're urging everybody who makes less than $50,000 a year to consult an accountant at this point,” Franchot said.
The comptroller also added that people in that pay range who do not have children also qualify, their return would not be as much.
The deadline to file your state taxes in Maryland is July 15, 2021.