Maryland Income Tax Calculator 2026

Reading the Maryland rate schedule

Maryland’s state brackets climb quickly from 2% to 4.75%: everything between $3,000 and $100,000 of taxable income ($150,000 joint) is taxed at 4.75%, so in practice that is the rate most households pay on most of their income. Higher rates of 5% to 5.75% apply above that, and since 2025 two new top rates of 6.25% and 6.5% start at $500,000 and $1,000,000 for single filers ($600,000 and $1,200,000 joint).

Your county or Baltimore City tax is calculated separately, as a percentage of the same Maryland taxable income, and is entered on the same Form 502. With local rates up to 3.30%, the combined Maryland rate for a typical household is around 8%.

Worked example: single filer in Baltimore City

A single filer with $85,000 of wages subtracts the $3,350 standard deduction and one $3,200 exemption, leaving $78,450 of Maryland taxable income. State tax is $3,674. Baltimore City’s 3.2% local tax adds $2,510, for a combined $6,184, or 7.28% of gross income.

Deductions after the 2025 changes

The standard deduction is now a flat $3,350 for single filers and $6,700 for joint and head-of-household filers, with no income-based formula. Itemizing still makes sense for many homeowners, but beginning in 2025 itemized deductions are reduced by 7.5% of federal AGI above $200,000 ($100,000 if married filing separately).

The Comptroller’s example: a single filer with $250,000 of AGI loses $3,750 of itemized deductions, so they must have more than $7,100 of deductions before itemizing beats the standard deduction. You do not have to itemize in Maryland just because you itemized federally.

A 2% additional tax now applies to net capital gains for taxpayers with federal AGI above $350,000, with some exceptions.

Retirement income and other subtractions

Maryland does not tax Social Security or railroad retirement benefits, and offers several subtractions on Form 502.

• Pension exclusion: up to $41,200 (2025) of income from an employee retirement system, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans but not IRAs, for taxpayers 65 or older or totally disabled (or whose spouse is totally disabled). The maximum is reduced by Social Security and railroad retirement benefits received.
• Military retirement income: up to $20,000 for taxpayers 55 or older at year-end, or $12,500 if younger.
• Two-income subtraction: up to $1,200 for married couples filing jointly when both spouses have Maryland-taxable income.

Filing and residency

The 2026 Form 502 is due April 15, 2027. If you moved into or out of Maryland during the year, you file as a part-year resident and report only the income received while a resident. Residents of DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia who had Maryland tax withheld from wages in error can file a Maryland nonresident return to claim a refund.