We have started to receive inquiries from clients and advisors on the Maryland Saves program.  The Maryland Saves program is only required for an employer who meets the following:

• The employer uses a payroll service
• The employer has been in operation for at least 2 years
• The employer has not offered a retirement plan in the last 2 years

If an employer is required to participate, according to the Maryland Saves website, there is no employer contribution requirement; no federal reporting requirement, and there is no cost for the program.  In addition, an employer subject to the program will receive a waiver for the annual $300 tax with the State Department of Assessment and Taxation.  There is no requirement for employees to participate; they can opt out of the program.

Employers who already have a retirement plan in place can opt out of the program by going to the Maryland Saves website & go through the steps to certify their exemption.  They can do so by doing the following:

Go to the marylandsaves.org site

In the upper right-hand corner, click on “Certify my exemption”

Complete the questions online

It requires an SDAT ID – if the employer doesn’t know what that is, they can enter the company name & look it up during the exemption process

Once complete, the employer will receive certification by email.

There is another site called marylandsaves.com, that has more details on the program, including contribution limits for employees.  Employees who elect to contribute will have a payroll-deduction IRA account & the account will be set up as a Roth IRA.  The accounts will be called MarylandSaves WorkLife Accounts & will be managed by private investment firms, including BlackRock, Lincoln, T. Rowe, Vestwell & BNY Mellon.