Maryland FAMLI when you run payroll by hand: 0.45% from each paycheck paid from January 1, 2027, and a manual quarterly report

Short answer, as of October 8, 2026: You can do FAMLI without payroll software. The State's Make contributions and Submit quarterly reports pages name no worksheet for hand payroll (read October 8, 2026), so you do the arithmetic yourself. Deduct up to 0.45% from each paycheck paid on or after January 1, 2027. Each quarter, enter each employee in the manual entry form in your FAMLI account and pay. The first report and payment are due Apr 30, 2027.

What the State says about payroll

The Make contributions page says: "The FAMLI Division anticipates that payroll vendors will update their systems to make the contribution collection process seamless for employers." The Contributions FAQ (April 2026, Q3) says: "The FAMLI Division has no control over payroll software."

Before the first paycheck of 2027

1. Register. See who must register.
2. Count your employees. Fewer than 15 in total means you remit 0.45%. With 15 or more you remit 0.9%. See the under-15 rule.
3. Decide who pays the employee share. You can deduct up to 0.45% from pay. You can also pay part or all of it yourself.
4. Give written notice at least 1 pay period before the first deduction (COMAR 09.42.02.05D). For a January 2027 start, that is December 2026.

Each payday

1. Look at the pay date. The deduction (the "FAMLI tax") applies to wages paid on or after January 1, 2027.
2. Multiply the wages by 0.0045. This is the employee deduction at the 2027 rate.
3. Write the deduction on the pay record.
4. If you have 15 or more employees, multiply the same wages by 0.0045 again. This is the employer share. Do not deduct it from pay.
5. Add the amounts to your running total for the quarter.

Example, with our arithmetic: wages of $1,000 × 0.0045 = $4.50. The rounding rule is in COMAR 09.42.02.08A: "a fractional part of a cent that is less than one-half cent shall be disregarded. A fractional part of a cent that is one-half cent or more shall be increased to 1 cent." So $1,234.56 × 0.0045 = $5.5555… becomes $5.56. Compare your total with the amount that the FAMLI system shows when you file.

The FAMLI tax calculator does this arithmetic. It does not store your inputs.

The wage cap

The rate applies to wages up to the Social Security wage base (§ 8.3-601). The 2026 base is $184,500. As of September 18, 2026, the Social Security Administration had not announced the 2027 base. It announces the base in October. For an employee with wages near that level, keep a year-to-date total. End the deduction when the total reaches the 2027 base.

Do not miss a deduction

This is the largest risk for hand payroll. COMAR 09.42.02.07 says an employer that fails to deduct "is considered to have elected to pay the employee's portion". The employer "may not recoup the employee share attributable to a past pay cycle on future pay cycles".

There is one exception. Within the next 6 pay cycles you may recoup when there were "insufficient paycheck funds due to other required federal, state and local withholdings that take precedence". A forgotten deduction is not in the exception. You pay it.

Each quarter: the manual entry form

The Submit quarterly reports page says: "Manual entry: Employers can log into their FAMLI account and use the manual reporting form option to input data one-by-one for each employee". After you submit, the system "calculates and displays the contribution amount due".

1. Sign in to your FAMLI account and select manual entry.
2. Enter the data for each employee.
3. Fill in the "Total employee headcount" field: every employee paid in the quarter, in Maryland and elsewhere. The State's QWHR file guide (updated July 29, 2026) says that if the field is not filled out, the EIN "will not be eligible for the small employer status". This is how the State collects the out-of-state number that COMAR 09.42.02.08C–D requires; an employer that does not give it "will be deemed to not be a small employer".
4. Submit the report.
5. Pay the amount on the same day.

The next-business-day rule covers the payment only (COMAR 09.42.02.08E). File the report on or before the due date. If you find an error later, COMAR 09.42.02.08F gives 1 year from the first due date to amend a report.

If you pay late or do not report

COMAR 09.42.02.09 gives 30 days to cure. Interest is 1.5 percent per month or part of a month. If reports are not filed, the Division may estimate wages and assess on the estimate. More: penalties and interest.

If you decide to get help

See the lists of payroll providers and CPA firms. Ask for the public page that says the product withholds Maryland FAMLI. A helper cannot register for you.

This is a private website, not a government site. General information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Official site: paidleave.maryland.gov.