First, I would have assumed that you already filed a nonresident Maryland return, or else how did you know that you owed Maryland $800? If you indicated that you were not a resident of Maryland, TurboTax should have automatically chosen form 505.
Second, look at the Maryland return that you have and see if the state withholding from the W-2 appears on the return. It should be on line 43 on form 505.
Third, the suggestion that you can get your withholding back is misleading. Generally, you owe tax in the state where you live and in any states where you worked. This means that when you reported the income in Maryland, that form 505 would calculate the tax owed on that income and apply your Maryland withholding to it.
The person from the state who told you that you could get your withholding back almost certainly assumed that you didn't have any taxable income in Maryland, but you apparently did.
"MD taxes were withheld in error"
Fourth, your employer may not have intended to withhold for Maryland, but they did and it's just as well that they did since you apparently owe Maryland tax.
The only way you can get such "mistaken" withholding back is by filing a state tax return (as the state told you) because the employer has already sent the withholdings to the state and the employer can't get it back from the state.
So, look to see if you already have form 505 and if the withholding is on line 43 of the 505 and if your Maryland state income is about $30,000 and if your withholding for Maryland is about $800 short of the tax due. If so, your Maryland return is correct.
Now look at your California return. Is there a Schedule S showing your Maryland income and the tax paid to Maryland? This should carry over to Schedule P and then for form 540. If this is the case, your return is likely correct. If there is no credit for taxes paid other state (which is what Schedule S is, among other things), then try to remember: did you enter CA first or MD? In most cases, you should enter your nonresident state first so that the tax can be calculated and carried back to your state of residence.
OK, let me know what you find.
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