Start of State Tax Season Delayed By Federal Shutdown

If you expect to owe state taxes this year, the pain can be put off a bit longer.

Comptroller Peter Franchot advised Marylanders in a recent news release that announced delays by the Internal Revenue Service will cause a corresponding delay to the beginning of the 2014 state tax season.

Due to the 16-day federal government shutdown, the IRS will delay the start of tax return processing until sometime between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Last year, the tax season started on Jan. 21, the news release said.

IRS officials said that October’s federal government shutdown came at the peak of critical yearly system programming and testing resulting in the delay of these essential quality control processes. The Comptroller’s Office relies on those systems in the processing of state returns. While the IRS has yet to announce the exact date operations will begin, no tax returns will be processed prior to Jan. 28.

While the 2014 tax filing deadline remains April 15, taxpayers may, as usual, request a six-month extension. If an extension is requested from the IRS, one is automatically granted by the Comptroller’s Office, the release said.   

Free state tax assistance is available at all of the agency’s 12 taxpayer service offices, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A list of office locations can be found at: http://taxes.marylandtaxes.com/Resource_Library/Taxpayer_Assistance/Contact_Information/Local_Offices_and_Directions.shtml.

For more information on any tax-related matter, go to the Comptroller’s Website at www.marylandtaxes.com or call (410) 260-7980 in Central Maryland or 1-800-638-2937 outside of Central Maryland.