BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) on Wednesday 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 SDAT Maryland Business Express website. If a resident requests a two-month filing extension through SDAT’s online extension system, their 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 Chatbot 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 a business owns, leases, or uses personal property in Maryland and/or maintains a trader’s 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 SDAT’s website and file by U.S. Postal Mail or in person at SDAT’s West Preston Street Office in Baltimore City. Major credit and debit cards are accepted as well as PayPal, Google Pay, 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 corporation’s 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 a business, visit the Maryland Business Express page on maintaining “Good Standing” status.

To view entity filings for free online and review the legal status of your business, access the Maryland Business Express Entity Search.

More information can be found in the video below.