Corporate Reporting Requirements

General Information

The Maryland General Assembly has imposed reporting requirements for certain manufacturers and corporations that are part of a unitary group, as set forth in Section 10 of the Tax Reform Act (Chapter 3, Acts of 2007, Special Session), and amended by the Corporate Income Tax - Reporting & Study (Chapters 177 & 178, Acts of 2008), in order to provide the new Maryland Business Tax Reform Commission with the necessary information to review and evaluate the state's current business tax structure and make specific recommendations for changes.

The reporting requirements apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2005. The reports are only required through tax year 2010. The links below will redirect you to a page containing more specific information as well as a link to the reporting system.

Corporate Group Reporting

Tax Year 2008 Report Entry

In the Comptroller's efforts to continuously improve services for taxpayers, the reporting system has been updated for tax year 2008. After receiving taxpayer feedback, in conjunction with experience gained in the first year of the reporting requirements, we have taken steps ensure the system is more user friendly and efficient.

There has been a significant change in the information necessary to complete your 2008 reports. There is no longer a page to provide the corporate group's adjusted apportionment numerators and denominators (i.e., factors after adjustments for inter-company transactions or eliminations). Instead, all data for each separate entity of the group should reflect the eliminations. There is no need to supply the actual eliminations or any pre-elimination data.

Update on XML File Upload Function

In order to simplify the reporting process and ensure that the proper information is provided, the Comptroller's office has published the XML schema necessary to facilitate software development. The schema includes all of the information necessary for a software developer to design a system that creates a XML file that can then be uploaded to the reporting system. A handbook, available here, contains information vital to the development of a XML file upload.

Please direct any questions regarding the XML filing option to CORPREPORTXML@comp.state.md.us

Amending Reports

Submitted reports for tax years 2006, 2007, and 2008 (if already submitted) can be amended. To amend your report, log into the system as usual. If your report has been submitted, an option to amend the report will appear, which you should click on. A dialog box will report "An amended report was successfully created, click edit to continue" (note that this may take several seconds to complete, particularly if your original report has a large number of entities). After clearing the dialog box, you are returned to the home page. From there, you may edit the report by selecting the tax year being amended. Clicking "View All Entities" will allow you to proceed directly to the section of the report you must amend. When you have completed making your changes, submit the report as usual.

Requests for Clarification of Tax Year 2006 Reports

The Comptroller's Office is currently contacting many reporting respondents for clarification or correction of their tax year 2006 reports. If you receive a letter from the Comptroller's Office asking for clarification or correction, you can easily provide such clarification through the home page of the corporate reporting system, while corrections can be made by amending your report. Your prompt attention will be greatly appreciated and will preclude the assessing of any fines.

Manufacturer's Reporting

A manufacturing corporation that has more than 25 employees and apportions its income under the single sales factor to file an information report with the Comptroller's Office. The regulations regarding this requirement may be found here. For additional information, please click on the above Manufacturer's Reporting link.