Aging software failure hobbles processing of tax returns, refunds

A computer outage at the Office of the State Comptroller has stopped the agency from processing tax returns and refunds.

The outage was announced on the comptroller’s website.

Adam Abadir, a spokesperson for the agency, said the outage was the result of aging computer software.

“While Maryland taxpayers can still file their tax returns electronically, until these systems are restored, the comptroller’s office is unable to review information specific to tax filings,” said Abadir. “The comptroller’s office apologizes to Maryland’s taxpayers for any inconvenience this temporary service outage has caused.”

He said the problem was not the result of a cyber-attack or other malicious incursion.

“This outage underscores the urgent need to modernize our systems — a key recommendation of the Comptroller’s Transition Team — and under our new leadership, we are redoubling our efforts to push forward expediently to provide better service to all Marylanders,” said Abadir.

Since Monday, the state’s top tax collector has been able to accept tax return filings electronically.

The software problem, however, is delaying the processing of tax returns, refund requests, and direct debit requests.

Abadir said the delay is temporary and could be resolved as early as Friday.

So far, the comptroller’s office has processed 1 million tax returns. In a typical year, the agency handles about 3.1 million returns.

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