Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15. See below for how to submit a question.

I work in the District of Columbia, for the D.C. government, but I reside in Baltimore. For two pay periods my employer mistakely sent my state taxes to D.C. instead of to Maryland. What can I do about that and how do I report my income tax?

Maryland and the District of Columbia have adopted a reciprocal agreement that allows your compensation to be taxed in the state of Maryland, even though it is earned in the District of Columbia. Due to the reporting error of your employer, the Maryland income tax withheld on your W-2 will be short by the two pay periods. The easiest way to correct this would be to request a corrected W-2 from your employer, since it was their error. The alternative would be to file a nonresident income tax return for the District of Columbia and then complete a Maryland Form 502CR to claim a credit on your Maryland return for the tax paid to the District of Columbia.

Douglas Coats, CPA, Deloitte & Touche

The above advice is for general purposes only and is not intended as legal, accounting or tax advice. Specific situations may vary.

To ask a tax question, call Sundial, The Sun's telephone information service, at 410-783-1800. Call 410-268-7736 in Anne Arundel County, 410-836-5028 in Harford County, 410-848-0338 in Carroll County. Using a Touch-Tone phone, punch in the four-digit code 6225 after the greeting. To submit questions by e-mail and access an online tax guide, go to The Sun's Web site at www.sunspot.net/tax.

Selected questions will be answered in the Business section. No questions will be answered personally.

Pub Date: 3/17/99