Bill Positions

Bill Number: SB 444

Bill Title: Corporate Income Tax – Reporting

Bill Sponsor(s): Senators King, et al.

Subject: Budget & Tax

Committee: B&T

Bill Summary: This bill amends the corporate date reporting requirements contained in SB2 of the 2007 special session, e.g. altering the definition of which corporations are subject to the reporting by excluding companies that are not subject to U.S. federal income tax; altering the definition of "doing business" in Maryland for purposes of who must report; removing the requirements for submitting certain data regarding other states; offering the alternative for the corporation to submit an actual combined return filed in another state but substituting Maryland apportionment factors; requiring that the due date of the 2006 tax year data is the due date of corporation's 2007 Maryland income tax return; changing the due date of the Comptroller's report; removing the penalty language and replacing it with the provision that the Comptroller is to establish an oversight and penalty system; providing that the last statements under this section are due for the 2010 tax year in order to have that timing coincide with the final report due date of the Business Tax Reform Commission; requiring that the Commission and the Comptroller are to review the requirements and make recommendations for any changes by December 2008.

History: SB2 of the 2007 special session included requirements for significant data reporting from corporations, in order for the State, through the Business Tax Reform Commission, to calculate the fiscal impacts if Maryland were to adopt "combined reporting" for corporate income tax calculations and other potential business tax policy changes.

Chamber Position: Support

Position Summary: The corporate data reporting requirements that were passed in the time pressures of the special session as part of SB 2 place heavy burdens on taxpayers, some of whom have no current filing responsibilities in Maryland. No other state imposes reporting requirements that are this extensive. Reporting the listed data will involve huge amounts of time and costs to the corporations, yet some of the requirements result in the collection of data that is not necessary to fulfill the goal. Additionally, some aspects of the current requirements are likely to be challenged in litigation over Constitutional violations and other legal theories. We support the amendments, as they reduce the most onerous and even unnecessary aspects of the reporting requirements while still gathering the data that the State needs for calculating more accurate fiscal note estimates on corporate tax matters.

Position Statement: Click here to download a pdf version of the Maryland Chamber's position statement.

Chamber Staff: Karen Syrylo

General Assembly: Click here to view the bill on the Maryland General Assembly's website.