SDAT Reminds Businesses to Verify Good Standing Status, Prepares for 2021 Filing Season

2021 Extension System is Live, Annual Report “Blackout” Period Scheduled

The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) is encouraging business owners to look up their business’ status on Maryland Business Express to ensure they are in Good Standing with the state, and if not, to follow the steps in this Good Standing Checklist to avoid being forfeited. Today, the Department also announced that its free 2021 Annual Report Extension System is live, which allows businesses to extend their filing deadline from April 15 to June 15, 2021.

“Our Department has taken unprecedented steps to keep Maryland businesses in Good Standing during this pandemic, as their success is vital to so many in our communities and to Maryland’s economy,” said SDAT Director Michael Higgs. “Online services released since April have helped thousands of businesses revive and continue operating in the state, and we remain committed to doing anything we can to encourage their success.”

Some Maryland businesses that are delinquent on their legal filing requirements will be forfeited on December 15, 2020 if those issues are not remedied first. Forfeiture notices have been mailed out to these businesses, and SDAT’s online forfeiture search may also be used to determine if this applies to your business. Any businesses facing forfeiture should review SDAT’s Good Standing Checklist to determine what steps need to be taken. Beginning in 2021, all forfeited legal entities, including foreign entities and domestic non-stock corporations, will be required to file a past-due Annual Reports to regain Good Standing status, and it is significantly easier to remedy these issues before a business is forfeited than afterwards.

In preparation for the 2021 filing season, the Department will be disabling online submissions of all Annual Reports from January 1 through January 8. Any Annual Reports in “draft” status on or before noon on December 31, 2020 will be deleted. Business owners will also receive email reminders in the coming weeks to complete any unsubmitted Annual Reports.

Since March, the Department has released 15 new online services that make it significantly easier for businesses to remain in Good Standing status, a requirement necessary for many types of Coronavirus-related relief. Approximately 10,000 filings have been submitted using one of those new options, and 350,000 total filings have been submitted online so far in 2020.

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