Maryland's EIC Changes for 2020

[garyhenson]

When will Maryland State Tax Forms be amended for the 2020 tax filing? Maryland made changes to EITC on February 15th, 2020 as part of their 2021 stimulus bill.

[SweetieJean]

TT has to wait for the state to issue a procedure for this, then program and test their software, and the get the state to approve TT's programming. But see this, which seems to suggest that the state will send you the payment automatically:

Maryland Economic Impact Payment FAQs FINAL (marylandtaxes.gov)

[garyhenson]

Thank you SweetieJean for your reply.

Yes the "immediate" stimulus payment was sent. However, they made additional changes to the state EIC calculation for tax year 2020. Currently 50% of the Federal EITC. The Maryland Comptroller Tax Office seems to suggest this information has been sent to TT. So I'm just wondering what to expect regarding TT's turn around time. Should I wait if it's only a few weeks to get the revised state EIC calculations?  

[Feng573]

It seems like the TT free version is still using the coefficient .28. I was wondering when it will be changed to .5. 

[JohnW152]

You're most likely looking at the refundable portion of your earned income credit.

When half of your federal earned income credit is greater than your Maryland tax, you may also be eligible for a refundable earned income credit.

As a result of the Maryland RELIEF Act, for tax years 2020 through 2022, this credit is the amount by which 45% of your federal earned income credit exceeds your Maryland tax liability.  This is an increase from the previous rate of 28%.  Please see Enhanced State Refundable EITC in the RELIEF Act Tax Alert, linked on the RELIEF Act Information page. 

The Maryland 2020 State & Local Tax Forms & Instructions have not yet been updated to reflect this new rate, and the individual income tax forms related to the RELIEF Act won't be ready until April.  Updates on the availability of forms will be posted on RELIEF Act page above with relevant links when they become available.

[Edited 4/15/2021 | 9:09 PST]

[Feng573]

@JohnW152 

Based on the Maryland EITC assistant, https://interactive2.marylandtaxes.gov/EITCAssistant/, it used the coefficient .5 for the Line 42 on Form 502 for estimation but not .28.  I am not sure which one is correct. 

[JohnW152]

@Feng573

That is odd, as the refundable credit rate has increased from .28 to .45.  The refundable rate hasn’t been .50, so that doesn’t seem appropriate for line 42.

However, the Maryland forms and possibly the calculator you used haven’t been updated.

Please see my updated post above for more information.

[Feng573]

@JohnW152 

Thank you very much for your explanation. The Maryland instruction, https://www.marylandtaxes.gov/forms/current_forms/resident_booklet.pdf, has bee updated on 4/15. For individuals with at least one qualifying child, this credit is the amount by which 45% of your federal earned income credit exceeds your Maryland tax liability. But the rate of TurboTax has not been changed yet. When will TurboTax update this rate?