Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through Thursday.

My husband and I converted our traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 1998. We know that we can spread paying the tax over four years on our federal return. Does the four-year option also apply to the Maryland return?

Yes. The tax is spread over four years because the income is spread over four years. The adjusted gross income amount from your federal return (which reflects the four-year spread of income) flows through to your Maryland return, and there is no modification for the conversion when calculating Maryland taxable income.

Jeanne Singer, CPA, KellerBruner & Co. LLC 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: 4/13/99