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TAXATION AND REVENUE SYSTEMS—MARYLAND. 
State Revenues. 
A. GENERAL PROPERTY TAXES. 
1. Base— 
a. The property included and exempt.—All property 
of every kind, nature, and description within the state, 
except as specially exempted, is subject to assessment 
for state, county, and municipal taxation. 
(1) and (2) There is no definition or classification of real or 
personal property for purposes of taxation. Certain subjects are 
specially enumerated. 
All certificates of indebtedness issued by any state, county, 
public corporation, or foreign country are subject to taxation; also 
all bonds of any state or corporation belonging to residents, and all 
investments in private securities, except that certificates and evi 
dences of debt of the state of Maryland shall not be taxed. 
Corporations are taxed upon real estate, and the stock and 
bonds of the corporation; there is generally no tax on personal 
property of domestic corporations except in the case of corporations 
not taxable on their stock; where there is no capital stock, the 
property and assets of the company, real and personal, are subject 
to assessment. Personal property of foreign corporations is taxable. 
The property, real and personal, of railroad companies is subject 
to assessment only for county and municipal purposes. 
All bonds or certificates of indebtedness bearing interest issued 
by any railroad or other corporation of the state, held by residents 
and secured by mortgage on property wholly within this state, are 
taxed to the owners. 
(3) Exemptions, in addition to public property, are: Judgments 
rendered by courts of record or justices of the peace; churches, with 
furniture and parsonages; cemeteries; crops in the hands of the 
producer; provisions and fuel for the use and consumption of the 
family; working tools of mechanics and artisans; the first $300 
worth of farming implements; wearing apparel; fish in the posses 
sion of fishermen; hospitals; asylums; charitable and benevolent 
institutions; libraries; educational and literary institutions; the 
personal property of corporations having capital stock divided into 
shares which are subject to taxation in this state; the shares of stock 
of railroad companies subject to taxation upon their gross receipts 
within the state, and to county and municipal taxation upon their 
real and personal property in the counties and cities of the state; 
the book accounts of merchants taxed on the fair average value of 
goods, wares, and merchandise in stock; real property purchased by 
survivors of the late war for erection of monuments and parks, up 
to 15 acres; and persons assessed for less than $100. Household 
goods to value of $300 when the owner is not assessed for any other 
property, in Baltimore city and Baltimore County. Manufacturing 
plants and machinery, exempt from local taxation for the purpose 
of encouraging new industries in Baltimore city, town of Hagers 
town, Anne Arundel County, and Harford County. 
b. Assessment.—The counties are divided into 
assessment districts, which are composed of the elec 
tion districts. In assessing the property in each 
election district the assessors at large act with the 
assessor of the election district. The assessors require 
of the taxpayers under oath a schedule of real and 
personal property, with the value thereof. Failure to 
furnish a schedule is penalized by doubling the taxes 
for the first year. False return is punishable as per 
jury by a fine of $500 or by two years’ imprisonment. 
Property is to be valued at its full cash value and 
not as at forced sale value. Reassessment only occurs 
by special act of the legislature authorizing same, 
although an annual adjustment of values is provided 
for. The last general assessment was made in 1910. 
The appeal tax court of the city of Baltimore has 
powers to assess all property therein and to make a 
general revision of all property at least once in every 
five years. 
All interest in ships or other vessels is assessed to the owner at 
place of residence. 
Banks, state and national, and other incorporated institutions, 
corporations, and joint-stock companies are assessed locally on their 
real estate. 
Shares of stock in domestic corporations owned by residents and 
nonresidents are assessed for taxation and the taxes collected from 
the corporation, which may charge them to the account of the share 
holders. The revenue laws treat the stockholders as the owners of 
so much property, to be estimated by the actual value of the stock. 
The capital stock of the corporation is the representation of its 
property. The state does not tax both the capital stock and the 
property represented by it. The valuation is made by the state tax 
commissioner on the basis of reports from the corporation. (Shares 
of stock in domestic or foreign steam railroad companies liable to 
the state gross-receipts tax and to local property taxes, are exempt 
from all taxation.) 
The taxable value of shares of stock is ascertained by the state tax 
commissioner by deducting from the aggregate value of the shares 
of the banks, corporations, or joint-stock companies the assessed 
value of their real estate and dividing the remainder by the number 
of shares. 
The state tax commissioner is required to certify to the county 
commissioners of the county where any shareholders reside, the 
number of shares held by residents, the net value per share, and the 
aggregate amount. Shares held by nonresidents are taxable for 
county and municipal purposes where the bank or company is 
situated. 
Foreign and domestic corporations, except those paying a gross- 
receipts tax, doing business in the state are taxed upon their real 
and personal property located in this state and in addition thereto 
are required to pay a franchise tax of $25 on $50,000 capital stock 
up to $500,000, in no case less than $25; more than $500,000 
and not more than $5,000,000, an additional amount equal to one- 
fortieth of 1 per cent on the excess, and if over $5,000,000 an addi 
tional charge of $30 for every million dollars over $5,000,000. 
The shares of stock of foreign corporations in the hands of a Mary 
land owner are also subjected (provided dividends are paid on 
such stock) to the full amount of state taxation and to a 30 cent rate 
for county or municipal taxes. 
All bonds or other evidences of debt issued by any corporation, 
public or private, foreign or domestic (except the state of Maryland), 
are to be assessed at their actual value in the market and taxed at 
the same rate as foreign stock (supra). 
Stock loans of the city of Baltimore, the capital stock and bonds, 
certificates or other evidences of debt, interest bearing, issued by 
incorporated companies of the state are to be assessed for state taxes. 
Certificates of indebtedness issued by any individual or firm are 
to be assessed at the regular rate for state purposes and the 30 cent 
rate for local purposes. 
Failure to list bonds, notes, claims, or other evidences of debt is 
penalized by forbidding action at law or equity thereon until the 
tax is paid, with an addition of 50 per cent per annum where there 
is an intention to evade the taxes. 
Mortgagors are assessed for real estate at its actual value, without 
regard to the mortgage lien. (See Business Taxes and Licenses 
under County Revenues.) Covenants for the mortgagor to pay the 
taxes on the mortgage debt are unlawful. (This does not apply to 
mortgages made before March, 1890.) 
Distilled spirits are assessed as personal property. Report is to be 
made on January 1 to the state tax commissioner, who fixes the