Tax Credit

Maryland homeowners could lose out on hundreds of dollars in tax bill savings if they miss a deadline that's a week away. Many may not realize they must sign up for the Homestead Tax Credit, which saved the average Baltimore homeowner more than $1,000 in the most recent tax year. To receive the credit in property tax bills starting this July, homeowners must sign up by Dec. 31. "When you say the words 'tax credit' to some homeowners, it doesn't really resonate what they're getting out of it," Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby said.

Letter writer Abigail Ross Hopper talks about offering incentives to stop using gasoline ("Maryland is charged up about electric cars," Dec. 12). Maryland gives an excise tax credit to buyers of electric plug-in vehicles and gives them up to a $400 income tax credit. How then does Maryland collect transportation taxes from that car that drives on our roads? It is shooting oneself in the foot to give away taxpayers' money on the front end and not collect the transportation taxes. Richard Jendrek, Berlin Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Grotech Ventures will be the first venture capital firm to invest in Maryland startup companies using $12 million in state money as part of the InvestMaryland program, state economic development officials said Wednesday. The firm was selected based on its history of investing in Maryland companies and its overall track record, said Maryland Venture Fund Authority Chairman Peter Greenleaf, who is also CEO of Gaithersburg pharmaceutical research giant MedImmune. Grotech was once based in Timonium and maintains an administrative office in Hunt Valley, along with its Northern Virginia headquarters.

While politicians spar in Washington over how to keep the nation from going over a "fiscal cliff," environmental activists warn that the wind-energy industry faces its own cliff if Congress doesn't act soon to extend a federal tax break for turbine construction, which expires at the end of the year. The latest alarm comes from Environment Maryland , which held a press conference on Baltimore's Federal Hill Wednesday to tout the environmental benefits of wind farms, including healthier air, water conservation and reduced emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants.

About 25,000 Baltimore homeowners who received the Homestead Property Tax Credit this year will lose the sometimes-large break if they don't apply for it by Dec. 31, the Baltimore City Council warned Monday. The one-time application is a relatively new requirement — the General Assembly mandated it in 2007 to cut down on ineligibility problems, setting the deadline at the end of this year to give homeowners plenty of time. But Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young and other council members are worried that some residents will see their tax bills spike next July because they don't know about the requirement.

Would people be more likely to pay their taxes if they knew the IRS would report unpaid liabilities to credit bureaus, thereby damaging their credit scores? Congress is considering that. The Government Accountability Office released a report last month to lawmakers about the pros and cons of a significant shift in practice. Currently, the IRS isn't allowed to report unpaid income taxes as part of an old law that protects taxpayers' privacy. (The IRS, though, can put a lien on property, and that public information is collected by credit bureaus.)

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake intends to introduce legislation to the Baltimore City Council that would provide a 15-year tax break to apartment developments in downtown. The mayor announced the news at the annual meeting of the Downtown Partnership on Oct. 4. “The Mayor's office, Finance Department and Downtown Partnership developed a targeted 15-year tax credit program for newly-constructed and conversion residential projects in downtown,” Rawlings-Blake told the crowd near the end of her speech.

The proposed Universal Design Tax Credit Bill does a disservice to Howard County taxpayers. The bill would give tax credits to property owners for 50 percent of the costs of increasing accessibility of their homes, for example, by expanding doorways or installing handrails in their bathrooms. The goal of increasing accessibility is laudable. However, the writing of the bill does not require that the homeowners need these renovations, or even require that they need financial assistance.

The deadline to apply for a property tax credit that, on average, cuts more than $1,000 off a homeowner's tax bill, has been extended until the end of October. Maryland residents can apply for the Homeowners' Property Tax Credit through October 31, said Robert E. Young, director of the state Department of Assessments and Taxation. The agency has extended the deadline from Sept. 1. Application numbers have jumped in recent years, as people's jobs or overtime income has vanished, and Young said he didn't want the newly eligible to miss out. “We administratively can extend the program until October the 31 st ,” he said.

More than 700 people turned out for workshops Tuesday connecting laid-off Sparrows Point workers with information about health insurance, training and other aid. An even larger number is expected at additional sessions scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, both at the training center on the steel mill complex. Similar events in June drew much smaller crowds - employees were optimistic then that the idled Sparrows Point would be sold to a steelmaker and reopened.