Maryland State Tax Return Stuck in Processing for 3 Weeks - Never Waited This Long Before

Maryland's processing times are DEFINITELY slower this year! I filed on February 1st (yes, I'm that person who files day one 😂) and didn't get my state refund until March 10th. That's over 5 weeks! They're claiming it's due to 'enhanced security measures' but you should still call them ASAP to make sure there's no issue with your return. Don't wait another day!

Ugh, MD taxes are the worst this yr. Mine was stuck for 4 wks b4 it finally processed. I was going crazy trying to figure out what was happening. Finally used https://taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it showed there was a hold code that wasn't visible on the regular site. Turns out they were just verifying my W2 info. The site explained exactly what the codes meant and gave me a timeline. Way better than the useless status bar on the official site tbh.

I was in the same boat with my Maryland return. Called their regular number every day for a week and kept getting disconnected. Finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to get through to an actual human at the comptroller's office. The agent confirmed they had a backlog but my return was fine - just delayed. At least I stopped worrying about an audit or something worse. Worth the service fee to actually talk to someone instead of getting busy signals.

My Maryland return was stuck for exactly 25 days. Then it suddenly processed. Got my direct deposit the next day. No explanation for the delay. No notices. Nothing wrong with my return. Just slow processing this year.

Maryland Comptroller's office is experiencing precisely 43% longer processing times this year according to their March 15th press release. Average processing time has increased from 12.4 days to 17.8 days for electronic filers with direct deposit. Paper returns are taking 28-35 days minimum. I'd recommend checking if you have any credits that might trigger additional review - particularly the earned income credit or education credits.

I've filed in both Maryland and Virginia for years, and Maryland is consistently slower. This year is exceptionally bad though - my Virginia return was processed in 6 days while Maryland took 22 days. If your return includes any credits or deductions that aren't straightforward W2 income, it's likely going through additional verification. Last year my neighbor had a similar delay and it turned out someone had attempted to file fraudulently using his info before his legitimate return was submitted.