2026 tax year · cross-border wages
Crossing a state line into or out of Maryland
Maryland taxes its residents on income earned anywhere, and taxes non-residents on work done inside it. Which return you file depends on which direction you commute.
Maryland borders 5 states. They fall into 2 different situations, and which one applies decides whether you file one return or two.
Where Maryland has a reciprocity agreement
Maryland has wage reciprocity with Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and West Virginia. Work in one of these and it will not tax your wages at all: you file its exemption certificate with your employer there, which stops its withholding, and report everything to Maryland. There is no nonresident return.
| Work state | Exemption certificate | Its tax on your wages |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | REV-419 | $0 |
| Virginia | VA-4 | $0 |
| Washington DC | D-4A | $0 |
| West Virginia | WV/IT-104R | $0 |
Washington DC attaches conditions to its agreements, not all of which apply to every partner state: By federal law DC cannot tax the wages of any nonresident, not only MD/VA residents. Check which clause covers a Maryland resident before relying on it.
Reciprocity covers wages paid by an employer. It does not cover self-employment income, so a 1099 worker in Maryland generally still sources income to where the work was done.
Where you file a nonresident return and claim a credit
Maryland has no agreement with Delaware. Work in one of these and you file a nonresident return there, report the same income again to Maryland, and claim a credit for what you already paid. The credit is capped at your Maryland liability, so you are not taxed twice, the combined bill lands at roughly the higher of the two rates.
| Work state | Its tax | Maryland after credit | Total | Rate that governs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $3,586 | $0 | $3,586 | Delaware |
What Maryland itself takes across a salary range
A single filer, taking the standard deduction. This is the figure every arrangement above is measured against, the tax Maryland charges a resident, whether the work happened inside the state or over a line:
| Wages | Maryland tax | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $2,085 | 4.63% |
| $70,000 | $3,273 | 4.67% |
| $120,000 | $5,698 | 4.75% |
What Maryland charges as your home state
Maryland taxes income on 10 graduated brackets for 2026, from 2% up to 6.5%. Because wages stacks on top of any other income, a second source can push part of it into the next bracket.
On the 2026 rate itself: new 6.25% and 6.5% high-income brackets added in 2025 BRF Act, effective retroactively.
Maryland's standard deduction is a percentage of adjusted gross income with a floor and a cap, which this calculator cannot express, so it is not applied. Maryland tax shown here is computed on full income and is therefore slightly overstated.
Maryland also has local income tax that the estimate above does not model, all counties require local tax filing (2.25% to 3.20% depending on county). Add it separately for where you live and work.
State income tax on wages only, 2026 rates. Not tax advice, what this does and doesn't cover.