NEW JERSEY
Sales Taxes
State Sales Tax: 7% (food, prescription drugs and non-prescription
drugs, clothing, footwear exempt)
Gasoline Tax: 19.5 cents/gallon
Diesel Fuel Tax: 17.5 cents/gallon
Gasohol Tax: 14.5 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: $2.70/pack of 20
Pleasure Tax: Depending on Service. Tattoo, Tanning Salons,Hair/Nail Salons, Gym Memberships, Boat, Cars over $23,000. Alcohol, adult beverage. Average Tax amount .15 cents of the dollar
Personal Income Taxes
Tax Rate Range:Low - 1.9%; High - 9.00%
Income Brackets: * Lowest - $20,000; Highest - $500,000
Number of Brackets: 6
Personal Exemptions: Single - $1,000; Married - $2,000;
Dependents - $1,500
Additional Exemptions: Taxpayer or spouse 65 or older - $1,000
Standard Deduction: None
Medical/Dental Deduction: Limited to excess of 2% of gross income
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None
Retirement Income Taxes: Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits are exempt. Payments from a public or private pension plan as a result of a total and permanent disability are also exempt. However, if an individual retired before age 65 on a total and permanent disability pension, and continues to receive pension payments after age 65, the disability pension is treated as ordinary incomes. The maximum amount of pension and/or other retirement income that may be excluded from gross income is being increased over a four-year period, which began in 2000. Exclusion amounts for 2004 are $20,000 (filing status married, filing joint return), $10,000 (filing status married, filing separate return), and $15,000 (filing status single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er)). As of 2005, the pension and other retirement income exclusions are only available to taxpayers with a gross income of $100 or less (before subtracting any pension exclusion. Military retirement pay is not subject to the state's gross income tax. For details on pensions and annuities, Invalid Link Removed.
Retired Military Pay: Exempt from taxes.
Military Disability Retired Pay: Disability Portion - Length of Service Pay; Member on September 24, 1975 - No tax; Not Member on September 24, 1975 - Taxed, unless combat incurred. Retired Pay - Based solely on disability: Member on September 24, 1975 - No tax; Not Member on September 24, 1975 - Taxed, unless all pay based on disability and disability resulted from armed conflict, extra-hazardous service, simulated war, or an instrumentality of war.
VA Disability Dependency and Indemnity Compensation: Not subject to federal or state taxes
Military SBP/SSBP/RCSBP/RSFPP: Not subject to New Jersey gross income tax.
Property Taxes
Property taxation is local. The Homestead Rebate and NJ SAVER Rebate Programs have been combined into the FAIR Rebate Program. The homestead rebate and NJ SAVER rebate applications have been replaced with the FAIR tenant rebate application and a separate FAIR rebate application for homeowners. Only New Jersey residents who were either a homeowner or a tenant on October 1, 2005, are eligible for a 2005 FAIR rebate. Invalid Link Removed The amount of your rebate is affected by your income, filing status, whether you were age 65 or older or eligible to claim an exemption as blind or disabled for tax year 2005, and whether you were a homeowner or a tenant on October 1, 2005. For tax year 2005, the minimum rebate for homeowners is $500 (income $125,000 to $200,000) and the maximum is $1,200 for income not over $70,000 (but not more than the amount of property taxes actually paid). The minimum rebate for tenants is $150 and the maximum is $825. Homeowners whose 2005 New Jersey gross income does not exceed $200,000 may be eligible for a rebate. The income limit for tenants is $100,000.
For most homeowners, the rebate amount is equal to your property taxes paid, minus 5% of your gross income, but is limited to the maximum rebate amount for your income level. In no case will the rebate be more than the amount of property taxes actually paid.
The Property Tax Reimbursement (PTR) Program reimburses senior citizens or disabled persons for property tax increases. The amount of the reimbursement is the difference between the amount of taxes due and paid in the base year of eligibility and the taxes due in the year for which the claim is made. To be eligible for tax year 2005, your income cannot exceed $41,972 if single, or $51,466 (combined income) if married. Call 800-882-6507.
Inheritance and Estate Taxes
New Jersey imposes a transfer inheritance tax, at graduated rates ranging from 11% to 16%, on the transfer of real and personal property having a total value of $500 or more which passes from a decedent to a beneficiary. If a decedent's death occurs on or after July 1, 1988, property passing to a decedent's surviving spouse, surviving parents, grandparents, children, stepchildren or grandchildren is entirely exempt from the tax.
In addition to the inheritance tax, New Jersey imposes a separate estate tax. The estate tax is designed to absorb any portion of the credit allowable for state death taxes under the federal estate tax law that is not fully taken up by the aggregate amount of all death taxes paid to any state. The tax is the difference, if any, determined by subtracting the amount of the inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes paid to New Jersey and elsewhere from the allowable credit. Even states that are partially or fully exempt from the inheritance tax may be subject to the New Jersey state tax. An estate may be subject to the New Jersey estate tax even though there is no New Jersey inheritance tax payable. For decedents with a date of death on or after January 1, 2002 the New Jersey estate tax was decoupled from the federal estate tax proceeding.
Information pertaining to the estate and inheritance tax may be obtained by calling 609-292-5033 or 609-292-5035
but because I would be able to afford to live and enjoy myself rather than spend all of my money on property tax and car insurance.
) parents bought their townhouse for $500,000 over in Long Hill township about 3 years ago.