Maryland Tax-General Section 13-520 gives the Maryland Tax Court authority to issue subpoenas that compel witnesses to appear and testify and that require the production of documents relevant to a tax appeal.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-General 13-520 – Subpoenas It is a procedural rule, not a tax or a penalty. It matters once you have petitioned the Tax Court to review a Comptroller decision and need evidence the other side holds.
What the Statute Does
Section 13-520 sits within Part IV of Title 13, Subtitle 5, the part of the Tax-General Article that governs how appeals are heard. Under it, the Tax Court can order the Comptroller or any other party to hand over records and to send witnesses to the hearing.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-General 13-520 – Subpoenas The power runs in both directions. The Comptroller’s office can also obtain subpoenas compelling a taxpayer or a third party to produce documents.
Most Tax Court cases turn on documents: income figures, deduction support, penalty computations, the paperwork behind an audit adjustment. Being able to force production often shapes the outcome more than oral testimony does.
When Section 13-520 Becomes Available to You
Subpoena power under Section 13-520 belongs to the Tax Court, so it is only in play once your dispute has reached that court. Getting there follows a defined path.
You first file an appeal with the Comptroller’s office within 30 days of the mailing date on the assessment notice. The appeal can be filed online through the Comptroller’s MyCOMConnect portal or submitted in writing by mail, and it should identify the tax years at issue, explain the disagreement, and attach supporting documents. The Comptroller holds a hearing and issues a Notice of Final Determination.2Comptroller of Maryland. Frequently Asked Questions about Hearings and the Appeals Process
If that determination goes against you, you have 30 days from its date to file a petition with the Maryland Tax Court. The Tax Court reviews the matter de novo, meaning it looks at the dispute fresh rather than checking the Comptroller’s work for procedural error.3Maryland Tax Court. Procedures of the Maryland Tax Court That fresh review is why subpoena power matters at this stage: the court is not bound by what the Comptroller previously assembled, so new evidence changes the picture.
A separate route reaches the same forum. If you file a refund claim with the Comptroller and six months pass with no response, you may treat the claim as denied and appeal directly to the Tax Court.3Maryland Tax Court. Procedures of the Maryland Tax Court Section 13-520 applies the same way whichever route brings you in.
Tax Court decisions can be taken up to the Appellate Court of Maryland and then to the Supreme Court of Maryland.4Maryland Courts. Maryland Appellate Court Opinions Subpoena practice at those higher courts is governed by other rules, not Section 13-520.
Using Subpoena Power in Your Case
The most common use of Section 13-520 is to compel the Comptroller to produce the records that underlie the assessment you are challenging. If you believe the agency relied on incomplete or incorrect information, a subpoena puts those materials in front of the court rather than leaving you to argue against figures you cannot see. Audit workpapers, correspondence with third-party reporters, data the agency used to recompute your income, and the calculations behind a penalty are all document categories where production can change the result.
Subpoenas can also reach third parties. Banks, employers, payers who issued information returns, and others who hold records relevant to the disputed year can be ordered to produce documents or to send a witness to testify about them. That matters when the Comptroller’s assessment rests on third-party data that you contest and that you cannot obtain informally.
If you are facing a fraud allegation, the stakes rise and so does the value of the statute. Fraud assessments and the civil or criminal exposure that can accompany them depend on the agency’s evidence of willfulness. Compelling the Comptroller to produce the material it is relying on is often central to mounting a defense.
Because the subpoena power runs both ways, assume the Comptroller will use it against you as well. Any gap in your own records, any document you cannot produce, is something the agency can ask the court to require.
Who Can Appear With You
You can represent yourself at any stage, including before the Tax Court, but the hearing is a formal proceeding. Licensed attorneys, certified public accountants, and enrolled agents are all authorized to represent taxpayers in Maryland tax disputes. For routine penalty disputes, a CPA who handles Maryland matters regularly is often enough. For fraud allegations or sizable assessments, a tax attorney is the safer choice, in part because drafting subpoenas and handling the responses to them is lawyer’s work.
Records That Make the Statute Useful
Section 13-520 helps you only to the extent you know what to ask for and can match the responsive documents against your own. That means your records matter as much as the ones you can compel.
The IRS recommends keeping documentation that supports income, deductions, and credits for at least three years after filing, with longer windows in specific circumstances: six years if you underreported income by more than 25%, seven years if you claimed a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction, and indefinitely if you never filed a return. Employment tax records should be kept at least four years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later.5Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records Property records should be retained until the limitations period runs on the year you dispose of the property. Maryland’s assessment windows generally track similar logic.
Organized records do two things in a Section 13-520 context. They tell you precisely what the Comptroller should have in its file, which lets you draft a focused subpoena. And they let you respond without difficulty when a subpoena comes the other way. A case built on documents is won or lost on whether both sides can be made to put theirs on the table, and that is exactly what the statute is for.