Citizen Portal
Sign In

Senate bill would let Maryland businesses pay for faster SDAT filings, with $1,000 one‑hour option

Budget and Taxation Committee · January 28, 2026

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Senate Bill 278 would authorize the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to offer a paid one‑hour expedited filing service for critical corporate filings at a $1,000 fee; sponsor and a business‑law witness said SDAT asked to drop a 30‑minute option and asked for a 01/01/2028 effective date.

Senator West introduced legislation to let the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) offer a paid expedited processing option for urgent business filings, saying delays sometimes jeopardize multistate transactions.

The bill, as presented, would allow SDAT to provide a one‑hour expedited filing for a $1,000 fee. "So the bill will be limited to just a special one‑hour filing for a $1,000 fee," Senator West said. Trey Hilberg of the Business Law Section, who testified for the sponsor, described three technical changes negotiated with SDAT: requiring a pre‑clearance step so SDAT can review filings in advance, removing a 30‑minute expedited option that SDAT says it cannot reliably deliver, and moving the bill's effective date to Jan. 1, 2028.

Supporters argued the fees would cover costs without burdening the state budget and would help Maryland compete with neighboring business‑friendly jurisdictions. Hilberg said the change is “more than just about efficiency. It's about economic competitiveness,” and that the pre‑clearance process would reduce the risk of clogging the regular processing queue.

Committee members raised equity concerns about whether the paid lane would disadvantage smaller businesses. In response, Hilberg and witnesses said SDAT plans to staff a separate expedited team and that pre‑clearance is intended to avoid bumping routine filings. "The preclearance helps with that," Hilberg said, adding that the expedited service is intended to be separate from the standard processing line.

No formal vote was taken during the hearing. The sponsor and witnesses asked the committee for a favorable report so that businesses with time‑sensitive filings would have a reliable, fee‑funded option.