NEWS & VIEWS Maryland private letter ruling process a step closer to reality B Y B I L L S H E R IDA N , CA E Maryland’s General Assembly has passed legislation that would establish a Legal Division in the Office of the Comptroller and create a private letter ruling process.
Division in the Office of the Comptroller and creating the PLR process, Maryland would take a strong step in the fair and transparent administration of state tax laws.
The bills in question, House Bill 366 and Senate Bill 477, passed their respective chambers during the General Assembly’s 2022 legislative session. Gov. Larry Hogan signed the legislation into law on May 16.
The MACPA’s State Tax Committee has advocated for this legislation on behalf of our tax community and worked with bills’ sponsors, Del. Brooke Lierman and Sen. Katie Fry Hester, on an amendment to extend the amount of time the PLR is binding from three to seven years.
MACPA legislative volunteers have been advocating for a Maryland private letter ruling (PLR) process for a long time. PLRs allow taxpayers to get binding answers from the Comptroller’s Office to their tax questions. In turn, the taxpayers can then pay the right amount of tax at the right time, rather than years later after an audit or litigation. Several dozen other state departments of revenue have a similar process in place. By establishing a Legal
MACPA members and legislative volunteers Karen Syrylo and Jeff Lawson in particular are to be recognized for taking time out of their busy-season schedules to testify in support of this important legislation. “We’ve been looking forward to having a PLR process in place for a long time,” said Syrylo, a tireless legislative volunteer and member of the MACPA’s State Tax
Committee. “The MACPA and other organizations advocated for it to be included in the Augustine Commission’s 2016 tax issues report, and it was. We celebrated when it was included in 2016 legislation in Senate Bill 843, but we’ve been disappointed that the Comptroller’s requests for additional funding to implement the program have not granted in any year since. MACPA members have even worked with the Comptroller’s Office with suggestions for alternative, partial procedures. “Having this year’s bills pass in both chambers with strong bipartisan support is excellent,” she added. “Now, we look forward to the next step – having the state budget process provide sufficient funding for the Comptroller’s Office to be able to hire the right, experienced personnel to perform the duties of the
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