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The Mandate Monitor

MarylandSaves: next employer deadline December 31, 2026

In effectChecked November 8, 2026Run by Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board

Short answer

Maryland requires established businesses that run an automated payroll and don’t offer a retirement plan to sign their employees up for MarylandSaves, a state-run Roth individual retirement account (IRA) program. There is no cash penalty in the law; the incentive is that registered employers, and employers that offer their own qualified plan and claim it, get the SDAT annual report filing fee ($300 for most businesses) waived each year. Sole proprietorships and trade names file no annual report and can’t get the waiver. To earn the waiver for next year you must register and send payroll contributions, or file the waiver claim, by December 31.

Next date: December 31, 2026: Next deadline for newly eligible businesses. Register and start sending payroll contributions (or, if you offer your own plan, file the waiver claim) by this date to get the fee waiver on your 2027 SDAT annual report (1+ employees).

Does your payroll handle MarylandSaves? See the free state route and the 5 payroll systems with help docs that cover it.

MarylandSaves deadlines

  1. · Retirement mandate

    Next deadline for newly eligible businesses

    Register and start sending payroll contributions (or, if you offer your own plan, file the waiver claim) by this date to get the fee waiver on your 2027 SDAT annual report. · 1+ employees

  2. · Retirement mandate

    Annual December 31 cutoff: register and send contributions, or file the waiver claim, to qualify for the 2028 SDAT fee waiver

    Claims received after December 31, 2026 count toward 2028. · 1+ employees

  3. · Retirement mandate

    Annual December 31 cutoff to register and send contributions, or file the waiver claim, to qualify for the 2029 SDAT fee waiver

    1+ employees

Dates already passed (1)
  • : MarylandSaves launched statewide and opened to employers.

What employers have to do

  1. Register at marylandsaves.vestwell.com with your Employer Identification Number (EIN) and the Access Code from your notice (or certify an exemption, or file the waiver claim if you offer your own plan).
  2. Answer the company and payroll questions, set up payment, and upload your employee list. You can invite a payroll provider or bookkeeper as an admin.
  3. MarylandSaves contacts employees directly; they have 30 days to opt out or customize their account.
  4. After the 30 days, start payroll deductions for employees who stayed in and submit the contributions and contribution details each pay period.
  5. Keep records current: add new employees, mark terminated employees, and apply contribution rate changes.

Handling MarylandSaves in payroll

The free route: register directly with the state

You can register and report on your own through Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board. You’ll still need your payroll to send the employee contributions each pay period.

Payroll systems with a help document covering MarylandSaves

SystemWhat the documentation saysLink
ADP RUNThe MarylandSaves help center lists a 360-degree integration for ADP Run that runs through Payroll Integrations, a third party that charges employers a monthly fee. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for ADP RUN
GustoGusto’s auto-IRA help article lists MarylandSaves among the state programs that integrate with Gusto through Vestwell, which adds a "Vestwell State IRA" deduction to payroll. Read their help doc, Nov 8, 2026See plans for Gusto
Paychex FlexThe MarylandSaves help center describes a 360-degree integration with Paychex Flex (Select and Pro) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Paychex Flex
QuickBooks PayrollThe MarylandSaves help center describes a 360-degree integration with QuickBooks Online Payroll (a QuickBooks Online plus Payroll subscription) that receives contributions from payroll and sends employees’ savings-rate changes back. That help center lists QuickBooks Online Payroll as supported and doesn’t mention Workforce plans. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for QuickBooks Payroll
Square PayrollThe MarylandSaves help center lists a 360-degree integration with Square Payroll; employers request it by emailing their Square Payroll representative. Read the program’s help doc, Nov 7, 2026See plans for Square Payroll

Listed alphabetically. We may earn a commission from these links; it never decides who’s listed.

How MarylandSaves works

Default 5% of gross pay into a Roth individual retirement account (IRA), deducted after tax. The rate rises automatically by 1 percentage point each January once the saver has been enrolled at least six months, up to 10%. Savers can opt out of increases, change the rate (1% to 100%, within IRS limits) or opt out entirely. The first $1,000 goes to an Emergency Savings Fund; later contributions go to a target retirement date fund.

No fees to employers and no employer contributions. Program fees are paid from employee accounts. Employers are not fiduciaries of the program and are not liable for employees’ investment decisions or the program’s performance (Lab. & Empl. § 12-501).

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow MarylandSaves?

Maryland employers (for-profit or nonprofit) that have been in business for at least 2 calendar years (all of the current and preceding calendar year), have at least one employee age 18 or older, and pay employees through a payroll system or service. Excluded: government employers, businesses with no employees or that run payroll manually, and employers that offer, or in the preceding 2 calendar years offered, a 401(k), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), SIMPLE individual retirement account (IRA), defined benefit or similar plan.

How do employers get an exemption from MarylandSaves?

If you offer a qualified plan (401(a)/401(k), 403(a), 403(b), Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) 408(k), SIMPLE individual retirement account (IRA) 408(p) or 457(b)), you don’t need to register, but to get the fee waiver you must file the claim form at marylandsaves.org/claim-fee-waiver every year by December 31 using your Employer Identification Number (EIN) and SDAT ID, and you must have made at least one payroll-deducted contribution to an employee’s plan account during that year. Businesses with no employees or that run manual payroll can certify their exemption online at marylandsaves.vestwell.com/exempt.

What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?

None in statute. A covered employer that does not comply cannot receive the waiver of its SDAT annual report filing fee, which is $300 for most businesses (Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 12-402(b); Corps. & Ass’ns § 1-203(b)(13)).

Everything employers in Maryland must do ·Retirement mandates in every state

Sources

  1. Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §§ 12-101 to 12-502; Md. Code, Corps. & Ass’ns § 1-203(b)(13)
  2. Employers (eligibility, December 31 waiver cutoff each year), MarylandSaves (read Nov 7, 2026)
  3. Employer program details and next deadline, MarylandSaves (read Nov 7, 2026)
  4. Contributions: default rate and annual increase, MarylandSaves (read Nov 7, 2026)
  5. Claim your 2027 SDAT annual report filing fee waiver, Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 8, 2026)
  6. MarylandSaves home (statewide launch date), Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 7, 2026)
  7. Employers (no employer contributions or fees), Maryland Small Business Retirement Savings Board (read Nov 8, 2026)
  8. Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 12-402 (employer duty; loss of fee waiver), Maryland General Assembly (read Nov 7, 2026)
  9. Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 12-501 (employer not a fiduciary), Maryland General Assembly (read Nov 7, 2026)
  10. Md. Code, Corps. & Ass’ns § 1-203 (annual report fee and waiver), Maryland General Assembly (read Nov 8, 2026)