Relating to human services.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Deb Patterson and 1 co-sponsor

Directs a formal study of Maryland’s business tax structure by the Comptroller and DLS, examining combined reporting and other taxes, with a report due by Dec 15, 2026.

In committee upon adjournment.

Summary — SB 33

Office of the Comptroller and Department of Legislative Services — Maryland Business Taxes — Study

Status: Withdrawn by sponsor (bill prefiled and introduced; later withdrawn)
Introduced/Prefiled: Prefiled Sept 6, 2024; introduced Jan 8, 2025 (requested by Senator Lewis Young)
Key dates in bill text: Effective date if enacted — July 1, 2025; report due to Governor & General Assembly — on or before Dec 15, 2026

Main purpose

SB 33 would have directed Maryland’s Office of the Comptroller and the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) to conduct a formal study and make recommendations about the State’s business tax structure. The study’s aim was to examine options for achieving “fair and equitable taxation” of corporations and other business entities doing business in Maryland and to inform future tax policy choices.

Key provisions

Requires the Comptroller and DLS to study and report on Maryland’s current business tax structure and options for change.

Specific topics required for review:

The imposition of combined reporting for unitary groups under the corporate income tax using the “water’s edge” method.
Experiences and outcomes in other states that have implemented combined reporting.
Potential effects of combined reporting (or other changes) across different industries.
Consideration of alternative or additional business tax types, including gross receipts taxes, value‑added taxes (VAT), and alternative minimum taxes.
Improved methods to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of tax policies used as economic development incentives.

Reporting requirement: findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by Dec 15, 2026.

Who would be affected

State tax policymakers and administrators (Comptroller, DLS, Legislature).

Corporations and other multistate business entities operating in Maryland (particularly unitary groups and companies with interstate or international operations).

Industries with differing exposure to apportionment and combined-report rules; businesses subject to gross receipts or alternative taxes if adopted later.

Recipients and designers of tax‑based economic development incentives.

Procedural / timeline notes

The bill was a study directive only — it did not itself change tax law or impose new taxes.

If enacted as written, the study would have begun after the effective date (July 1, 2025) and culminated in a report due Dec 15, 2026.

According to the legislative record provided, the sponsor withdrew the bill (withdrawal date recorded in committee history).

Potential impacts to consider (informational)

Combined reporting can broaden the corporate tax base by including related entities’ income in a single return; effects vary by industry and corporate structure.

Alternative taxes like gross receipts or VAT change incidence and administration compared to income taxation; they can raise revenue but have different distributional effects.

The study’s recommendations could inform major future policy choices with implications for state revenues, business tax burdens, and competitiveness.