Tax Day Extended, Maryland Comptroller Offers Support

MARYLAND — Many taxpayers who tried to submit their returns online Tuesday encountered problems due to an outage that struck the website of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As a result, people have an extra day to file their taxes.

The new tax deadline for 2018 is midnight at the end of Wednesday, April 18. People do not have to do anything to qualify for the April 18 deadline.

Maryland's tax collector said that his office was ready to assist, with resources both online and in offices around the state, since those trying to file their Maryland taxes were impacted by the federal outage.

"Maryland taxpayers who were affected by the IRS' website outage yesterday can rest assured that you have another day to file your taxes, as they needed federal tax return information to file their Maryland tax return in our system," Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said in a statement Wednesday morning. "Taxpayers can continue to use our iFile system without disruption."

Taxpayers can file their returns electronically on marylandtaxes.com, Franchot said.

Free state tax assistance is available at the comptroller's 12 service offices Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Offices are in Annapolis, Baltimore, Cumberland, Elkton, Frederick, Greenbelt, Hagerstown, Salisbury, Towson, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf and Wheaton.

Have questions? Call 1-800-MD-TAXES (1-800-638-2937) or 410-260-7980 in central Maryland.

The outage at the IRS was attributed to a hardware issue that required a system reboot, according to NPR. Those who used paper to file were not impacted.

Taxpayers who need more time beyond April 18 can file for an extension until Oct. 15; taxes owed are still due in April.

Law enforcement agencies around the state have encouraged taxpayers to be vigilant about their personal information online and over the phone.

"Every year at tax time, we get reports of individuals receiving calls from criminals claiming to be from the IRS saying the potential victim has an outstanding tax bill that must be paid with a prepaid credit card," the Harford County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday morning. "That is a huge red flag. The IRS will never call you if you owe money, and they certainly will never make you pay with a prepaid credit card!"

Those concerned they may have been a victim of fraud should report it to the Comptroller’s Questionable Return Detection Team at QRDT@comp.state.md.us.

Image via Shutterstock.

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