January 21st, 2020 by WCBC Radio
The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) today announced the availability of 2020 Annual Reports, Personal Property Tax Returns, and Extension Requests. All domestic and foreign business entities must file an Annual Report or request an extension by April 15, 2020, in order to maintain their Good Standing status. The quickest and easiest way to submit these filings is through the Departments award-winning Maryland Business Express site. If you request a two-month filing extension through SDATs online extension system, your filings will be due to the Department no later than June 17, 2020.
Since 2018, annual filings submitted online have increased by 67 percent and we saw even greater traffic in 2019 with over 35,000 additional online filings, said SDAT Director Michael Higgs. The creation of Maryland Business Express is a game changer. More than 30 percent of all online charter transactions take place outside of normal business hours. We have completely transformed the way we interact with our customers, from the interactive Chabot Mary to the wealth of information that used to be spread across 14 different agency websites. Entrepreneurs can now plan, start, manage and grow their businesses in Maryland from their home or mobile device 24/7, and our customers love it!
All businesses in Maryland must file an Annual Report yearly in order to maintain Good Standing status. If your business owns, leases, or uses personal property in Maryland and/or maintains a traders license with a local unit of government in Maryland, a Personal Property Tax Return must be filed. If a paper application is preferred, click here to download the forms on SDATs website and file by U.S. Postal Mail or in person at SDATs West Preston Street Office in Baltimore City. Major credit and debit cards are accepted as well as PayPal, Google and Apple Pay.
Due to the passage of Chapter 513 during the 2019 General Assembly Session, SDAT is required to add a new question to the Annual Report asking how many board members a corporation has, and how many of those board members are female. This question only applies to tax-exempt, domestic non-stock corporations with an operating budget exceeding $5,000,000, or domestic stock corporations with total sales exceeding $5,000,000. If one of the former applies to the corporation, this question must be completed unless at least 75% of the corporations shareholders are family members. See Tax Property Article 11-101.
If you do not file the required documents by the deadline, your business falls out of Good Standing status and may enter a Forfeited status soon thereafter. If your business is currently not in good standing because of failure to submit previous annual filings, you may now file up to ten years of overdue Annual Reports and Personal Property Tax returns online to regain the ability to legally conduct business in Maryland. For more information about the required annual filings or to view the status of your business, visit the Maryland Business Express page on maintaining Good Standing status.
SDAT strongly recommends that all business owners sign up for our distribution list to receive timely reminders to file these important documents or tax credit applications, or to receive general SDAT news updates. To view entity filings for free online and review the legal status of your business, access our Maryland Business Express Entity Search.
For additional questions about any of the information in this release, please contact SDATs personal Property Valuation Unit at SDAT.PersProp@Maryland.gov or (410) 767-1170.
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