Maryland · County tax · Verified
Maryland Local Income Tax Calculator
Maryland taxes your profit twice — once for the state, once for the county or
city you lived in on 31 December. Pick yours to see what that adds.
Prepared for the 2026 tax year.
The rules for the 2026 tax year are published during 2025 and 2026 — the adjusted figures first, the explaining publications as the year goes on — and the return they govern is filed in 2027.
Enter your profit, pick your filing status, choose your county, then press Calculate.
What comes next? This is the state and county piece only. Federal tax is charged on the same profit, and for a sole proprietor it is usually the larger of the two.
The Self-Employment Tax Calculator adds the 15.3% SECA tax plus the federal income tax, worked out on the same Schedule C profit.
## What the number is made of
Maryland income tax comes in two pieces on the same profit:
**The state piece.** A graduated schedule from 2% to 5.75%. Since 2026 single filers reach
the top rate above $250,000 and joint filers above $300,000.
**The local piece.** Charged by your county or by Baltimore City. In 2026 no county may
charge less than 2.25% or more than 3.20% (Tax-General Article 10-106). Twenty-two of the
twenty-four charge one flat rate all year. Two — **Anne Arundel and Frederick** — do not.
## The two counties that are not flat
Anne Arundel and Frederick charge a rate that depends on how much you made, and the rule is
not the one most people assume.
The official wording is *".0270 of Maryland taxable net income"* — the rate of your bracket
applies to **all** of your Maryland taxable income, not just to the part above the line.
For a single filer in Anne Arundel:
| Maryland taxable income | Rate charged on the whole amount |
|---|---|
| $1 – $50,000 | 2.70% |
| $50,001 – $400,000 | 2.94% |
| above $400,000 | 3.20% |
A filer at $50,000 pays $1,350. A filer at $50,001 pays $1,470 — one more dollar of profit,
$120 more tax. That is the rule working as written, not a rounding error, and this calculator
shows you which boundary you are closest to rather than hiding it.
Frederick works the same way across four bands: 2.25% up to $25,000, 2.75% to $50,000,
2.96% to $150,000, and 3.20% above.
## If you live outside Maryland
A nonresident pays no county tax. Maryland charges a **special nonresident tax of 2.25%**
instead (Tax-General Article 10-106.1) — and 2.25% is not an arbitrary figure: it is the
lowest county rate in the state, charged by Worcester. It applies only to income from
Maryland sources, so earnings from clients elsewhere are not in it.
## The date that decides everything
Your county rate is fixed by where you were domiciled on **31 December**, not by where you
spent most of the year. The Form 502 instructions say so, and *Frey v. Comptroller*, 422 Md.
111 (2011) confirms it against Tax-General Article 10-103.
The consequence is worth stating plainly: work in Maryland the whole year and move out on
30 December, and Maryland taxes the entire year at your old county's rate. Move *into*
Maryland on 31 December and Maryland taxes the entire year. If a Maryland bill has ever
looked larger than expected, this is usually why.
## If you file no county certificate
Without a certificate of residence on file, Maryland withholds at **3.30%** — the highest rate
in the state, charged by Dorchester and Kent. It is a default, not your liability, and it
comes back when you file.
## Sources
- Comptroller of Maryland, *2026 Maryland State and Local Income Tax Withholding Information*, 4 February 2026
- Comptroller of Maryland, *2026 Employer Withholding Guide* and *Withholding Tax Facts 2026*
- Annotated Code of Maryland, Tax-General Article §§ 10-103, 10-106, 10-106.1
- *Frey v. Comptroller of the Treasury*, 422 Md. 111 (2011)