State Income Taxes

Elderly residents who need to complete their tax forms, or have questions about whether they need to file a tax return this year, can get help through April 11 in time for the April 15 deadline.Tax Counseling for the Elderly is available free of charge around the county at Bureau of Aging senior centers. To take advantage of this program, residents must be 60 or older and meet guidelines that define a moderate income.The program is offered through the Carroll County Chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons, which has a contract with the Internal Revenue Service, said John Graybeal, a tax counselor at the Westminster Senior Center.

This Wednesday's planned opening of the half-billion-dollar Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills marks a red-letter day in Maryland gaming history. The scale of the enormous, 330,000-square-foot facility is stunning: It will eventually house 4,750 slot machines (far more than any other Maryland facility) in addition to restaurants and entertainment. No doubt the opening will be a particularly satisfying moment for developer David Cordish and others at the Cordish Cos.who overcame a considerable number of obstacles, not least a 2010 voter referendum.

Maryland wants more of my money. It may not seem like a big tax increase being presented, but how much money does the state need? I am the so-called wealthy American who must pay more in taxes. Well I pay plenty of taxes so my politicians can yuk it up in their sky boxes. I pay 23.5 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes per fill-up. That's about $400 per year for two cars. I paid $300 in tolls to get to and from work. There was $41 to park for meetings in Baltimore, $180 to register my car, $1,600 in miscellaneous school fees (field trips, sporting events, uniforms, yearbook, prom, homecoming)

Maryland wants more of my money. It may not seem like a big tax increase being presented, but how much money does the state need? I am the so-called wealthy American who must pay more in taxes. Well I pay plenty of taxes so my politicians can yuk it up in their sky boxes. I pay 23.5 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes per fill-up. That's about $400 per year for two cars. I paid $300 in tolls to get to and from work. There was $41 to park for meetings in Baltimore, $180 to register my car, $1,600 in miscellaneous school fees (field trips, sporting events, uniforms, yearbook, prom, homecoming)

GOV. ROBERT L. Ehrlich Jr.'s popular promise to eliminate taxes on the military retirees' pensions likely will come up for its first vote next week in a Maryland House of Delegates subcommittee. Retirees who served for at least 20 years on active duty would be eligible for the tax exemption, to be phased in over four years. Veterans would not pay taxes on 20 percent of their military retiree income in 2006, 40 percent in 2007 and so on until 2010, when all of it would be tax-free. Both houses of the General Assembly held hearings on the issue last month, and Henry Fawell, an Ehrlich spokesman, said that Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller have testified in favor of the bill.

Until she fills in the gaps, Republican gubernatorial nominee Ellen R. Sauerbrey has a credibility problem in her grand-sounding plan to cut state income taxes 24 percent. Her failure to indicate how and where she will slash programs to pay for her tax reductions makes it impossible to judge if this is an election-year shell-game or a viable approach to shrinking government sensibly.Mrs. Sauerbrey's opponent, Democrat Parris Glendening, is no XTC paragon of virtue on fiscal questions, either.

House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell staged a little political theater Monday as he attempted to testify against a tax-increase bill and was turned away by the chairwoman of the committee hearing the legislation. The occasion was a hearing on the Senate bill passed last week raising state income taxes. It was, like the hearings on most Senate bills coming over to the House, a sponsors-only event. When O'Donnell tried to follow the panel from the Senate to the witness stand, House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sheila E. Hixson promptly ruled O'Donnell out  of order and adjourned the hearing.

The so-called loophole in Maryland's tax law is more accurately a gaping inequity: Unlike the federal government, Maryland allows residents to exclude from taxation 40 percent of the profits from the sale of houses, stocks, bonds and other property. This tax break costs the state plenty. The newest statistics from the state comptroller's office show that in part because of the capital gains tax break, 77 Marylanders who earned an average of $430,785 a year paid no state income taxes at all in 1988.

State Sen. Mary H. Boergers, a Democratic candidate for governor, has unveiled a two-pronged program to encourage so-called working families to save for their children's future college costs and reward those who pick a school in Maryland.Ms. Boergers, at recent newa conferences at Towson State and Bowie State universities, said she wants to re-activate the Maryland Minibond Plan as an investment vehicle for parents hoping to offset spiraling higher-education costs.The plan, in limbo since 1991, permits individuals to purchase tax-exempt state bonds in denominations as low as $500 rather than the usual $5,000 minimum.

As the fourth quarter begins, where should you invest your money? It's a no-brainer, really. Your best bet -- even if means tightening your belt some -- is to maximize contributions to a 401 (k) plan where you work.A recent survey revealed shocking results: 40 percent of eligible PTC working men and women do not have a 401(k).Who can have such a plan? What are its benefits?Employees who are 21 with over one year of service are eligible. Once your plan is established, you may defer up to 15 percent of your compensation to a maximum of $9,500.

House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell staged a little political theater Monday as he attempted to testify against a tax-increase bill and was turned away by the chairwoman of the committee hearing the legislation. The occasion was a hearing on the Senate bill passed last week raising state income taxes. It was, like the hearings on most Senate bills coming over to the House, a sponsors-only event. When O'Donnell tried to follow the panel from the Senate to the witness stand, House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sheila E. Hixson promptly ruled O'Donnell out  of order and adjourned the hearing.

The latest state income tax payments to local governments fell $61.8 million year over year, piling new fiscal woes atop budgets already reeling from state cuts, high snow removal costs and earlier revenue declines. The declines in payments from the state to county governments at the end of February put an added $29.4 million burden on Montgomery County, which was already facing a projected $761.5 million shortfall by June 30, according to the Maryland comptroller's office. Prince George's and Charles counties were alone among Maryland's 24 jurisdictions to receive more in the fourth quarter of 2009 than in 2008.

The millionaires are fleeing Maryland, all right. But not because of the measly tax surcharge on income over $1 million. They're bugging out because of Maryland's estate tax, which applies to a bigger portion of a dead person's hoard than the federal estate tax or those in other states. Strange to tell, rich refugees didn't want to speak with me. But their lawyers did. They suggest the high inheritance tax costs the state a lot more than it brings in because absconding aristocrats don't pay any Maryland tax, let alone the one when they die. "For years and years, I have had clients who complained about Maryland taxes and never took any action," says Lowell G. Herman.

Del. Jon S. Cardin was having misgivings about elements of Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax and slot-machine plan when the governor invited him to his office on the second floor of the State House. O'Malley sat on the sofa late one afternoon last week and offered Cardin water or soda -- he declined -- and they talked about the distribution of funds from a proposed change in the transfer tax, among other details. There was no LBJ-style browbeating, the delegate said. Cardin said the governor, in shirtsleeves, seemed to want to reach a compromise, not just get his way. Though the stakes are high for O'Malley as he tries to persuade Maryland lawmakers to vote for his plan for dealing with a projected $1.7 billion budget shortfall, Cardin and others who have received personal attention from the governor say that so far, he hasn't leaned on them.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s popular promise to eliminate taxes on military retirees' pensions will likely come up for its first vote next week in a Maryland House of Delegates subcommittee. Retirees who served for at least 20 years on active duty would be eligible for the tax exemption, to be phased in over four years. Veterans wouldn't pay taxes on 20 percent of their military retiree income in 2006, 40 percent in 2007 and so on until 2010, when all of it would be tax-free. Both houses of the General Assembly held hearings on the issue last month, and Henry Fawell, an Ehrlich spokesman, said that Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller have testified in favor of the bill.

Two-thirds of Maryland's largest companies paid no state income taxes in 2001 and 2002, according to information from the state comptroller's office released yesterday by a liberal advocacy group that has been hammering the General Assembly in the waning days of the session to close corporate tax loopholes. The comptroller's data, released by Progressive Maryland, show 90 of the state's 130 largest for-profit companies by payroll pay no income taxes, but does not name the businesses. The data were generated by the comptroller's office at the request of Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a Prince George's Democrat, who said he wants the business community to pay its fair share.

Homebuyers seeking some financial relief can find it this summer in Hillendale, a Baltimore County neighborhood chosen for a new state program that offers substantial tax breaks as a way to boost homeownership and stabilize troubled communities.Under the pilot program, which also will extend to a city neighborhood and begins July 1, anyone who buys a house in Hillendale in the next three years will get a 40 percent reduction in property taxes -- and a matching reduction in state income taxes.

From reformers to politicians, everybody's talking about the alternative minimum tax, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The AMT, enacted in 1969 to reduce the use by the super-rich of special deductions to avoid paying their share of income tax, has spiraled out of control. This year you have a one in 10 chance of getting walloped with a higher-than-expected tax bill thanks to the AMT, and by 2010 one out of every three households is expected to fall into the AMT trap. Without sweeping reform, a married couple with two kids and an income of $75,000 to $100,000 has a 97 percent chance of paying AMT in 2010, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.