A person operating and conducting a trade or business must contact the local Enterprise Zone administrator
to see if the particular property meets certain requirements. Unlike the income tax credits discussed infra, there is no
specific application form which must be submitted for the property tax credit. Instead, the local Zone administrator will
explain to interested persons the specific requirements in a given Zone. The Enterprise Zone law itself establishes two
minimum alternative requirements and also provides that local Zones may establish additional or special requirements. [See
Title 9-107 Tax-Property Article; Art. 41, Section 266KK-4 Annotated Code of Maryland]. In order for a business to qualify
for the property tax credit, it must satisfy one of the two specific statutory requirements as well as any further requirements
established by the local Zone. The two specific requirements are that business must either (1) make an investment in capital
improvements, or (2) hire new employees. Of course, it should be noted here that if the business qualifies for the credit in
only the second way by hiring new employees, the amount of the property tax credit will be small since the increase in assessment
will not be large due to a lack of capital investment.
The local Zone administrator can explain if the particular Zone also has established its own additional requirements. For example, some
Zones have established the requirements that a business must be hiring at least five new employees and that the jobs must be in certain
industries.
Once the local Zone administrator determines that a property qualifies for the property tax credit, the administrator certifies this
finding in writing to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, which in turn calculates the amount of assessment "eligible"
for the credit.
The law states that the credit shall be granted to the "owner" of a qualified property. In cases where a lessee makes the capital improvements
or hires new employees, the lessee should make a contractual provision with the owner of the qualified property regarding receipt of the property
tax credit.
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