Civilian Spouse Employed in Maryland

If your civilian spouse is employed in Maryland and has resided within the state for more than six months, your spouse is a statutory resident and must file a resident return. As the military spouse, you remain a nonresident for purposes of Maryland taxation, and are not required to file a Maryland return, unless you received non-military income from Maryland sources. You may choose to file a joint resident return using Form 502, or your civilian spouse may file a separate resident return.

Filing separately

If your civilian spouse files a separate resident return then you are not required to file a Maryland return, unless you received non-military income from Maryland sources. See Instruction 8 in the resident tax booklet.

Filing jointly

If you file a joint return, report your total federal adjusted gross income on your Maryland return. Subtract military pay and the military taxpayer's portion of any investment income (interest, dividends, etc.) from the joint federal adjusted gross income, on the line for nonresident income.

Local income tax

The military taxpayer's Maryland income is not subject to the local income tax. Enter the word "MILITARY" on line 35. Standard or itemized deductions and exemptions must be adjusted, using a ratio of Maryland adjusted gross income to federal adjusted gross income. You should use Military Worksheet A in the resident booklet to compute the adjustment to the standard deduction or itemized deductions as well as exemptions. Use Military Worksheet B to compute the local tax for the civilian taxpayer.

If you are not certain which filing status to use, figure your tax both ways to determine the best status for you. For more information, see Instruction 26 (c) through (j) in the resident booklet.