Tax Planning Guides for Households in Maryland, DC, and Virginia

Filing a return is not tax planning. Planning is the set of choices made before December 31: which 529 plan to fund and how much to deduct, whether an HSA should be spent or invested, how a Roth conversion or a large sale two years ago sets this year's Medicare premium, and whether after-tax 401(k) dollars should become Roth dollars. Maryland, DC, and Virginia each treat these differently, and the difference is often four figures a year for the same household.

Education and health accounts

• The Maryland 529 guide: the $2,500 deduction and the 10-year carry-forward
• The Virginia 529 guide: $4,000 per account with unlimited carry-forward
• HSA rules, 2026 limits, and using it as a retirement account

Retirement accounts and Medicare surcharges

• After-tax 401(k) vs Roth 401(k) and the mega backdoor Roth
• How IRMAA works and the part most people miss
• Roth conversions in the gap years before RMDs
• How Maryland taxes retirement income compared with its neighbors

Two audiences have their own pages: RSU and ISO tax planning for tech employees, including how RSU vesting is taxed in Maryland, and tax and retirement plan design for business owners, starting with Solo 401(k) versus SEP IRA for S corp owners.

Written for families and pre-retirees in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia by Danni Shen, CFA®, and Shuo Li, CFP®, CIMA®, ChFC®. We coordinate these decisions with your CPA as part of our financial planning service; if you want this year's plan modeled before December, book a call.