Residency Status for Military Personnel

You must file a Maryland resident return (Form 502) if:

• You are a legal resident of the state of Maryland (your home of record). You are taxed on all of your income from all sources, wherever earned.
• You are not a resident of Maryland but your civilian spouse is employed in Maryland and has resided within the state for more than six months. For more information about this situation, see Civilian Spouse Employed in Maryland.

You must file a Maryland nonresident return Form 505 if:

• Either you or your spouse has non-military income earned in Maryland. The tax should be calculated on Maryland earned income only. Deductions and exemptions must be apportioned using the ratio of Maryland income to Federal adjusted gross income.
• Your civilian spouse is employed in Maryland and has resided in Maryland for less than six months.
• You and your spouse are in the military, do not live in Maryland and one or both have Maryland income.

You do NOT need to file a Maryland return if:

• You and/or your spouse are legal residents of another state and neither you nor your spouse has earned non-military income in the state of Maryland.
• You and/or your spouse are legal residents of another state and have military income and other income earned outside of Maryland.

Tax credits

You may be eligible for Maryland income tax credits as well as tax credits granted by another state. See Maryland Form 502CR and instructions. Follow the instructions provided by your state of legal residence for any possible credits allowed by that state.