NJ Income Tax FAQ

Refunds

You can get information about your New Jersey Income Tax refund online or by phone.

  • Online Inquiry (https://www16.state.nj.us/TYTR_TGI_INQ/jsp/prompt.jsp)
  • Phone Inquiry: 1-800-323-4400 (toll-free within NJ, NY, PA, DE, and MD) or 609-826-4400 (anywhere). This service is available 7 days a week (hours may vary). You will need the Social Security number that was listed first on your return and the amount of the refund requested when you call.

Old (stale-dated) Checks. If you have the check, send it along with a letter requesting a replacement check to the New Jersey Division of Taxation at the address below. Do not write the word void anywhere on the checkKeep a copy of the check for your records.

NJ Division of Taxation
Taxpayer Accounting Branch
PO Box 266
Trenton NJ 08695-0266

If you do not want to use the mail, you can return the check to one of our Regional Information Centers.

 

Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed Checks. If you do not receive your check within 30 days of the date the check was issued, or if you received a check that was lost, stolen, or destroyed, you can request a replacement check. Call the Customer Service Center at 609-292-6400 and speak to a Division Representative. The Division will trace the check.

You can also request a check tracer for your New Jersey Income Tax refund check for the current year by calling the Division’s Automated Refund Inquiry System at 1-800-323-4400 (Touch-tone phones within NJ, NY, PA, DE, and MD) or 609-826-4400 (touch-tone phones anywhere). Due to the volume of claims, please allow up to 30 days for a replacement check to be issued.

Old (stale-dated) Checks. If you have the check, send it along with a letter requesting a replacement check to the New Jersey Division of Taxation at the address below. Do not write the word void anywhere on the checkKeep a copy of the check for your records.

NJ Division of Taxation
Taxpayer Accounting Branch
PO Box 266
Trenton NJ 08695-0266

If you do not want to use the mail, you can return the check to one of our Regional Information Centers.

Filing

New Jersey will accept a photocopy of your W-2 form(s), as long as the copy is legible.

Forms 1099-G and 1099-INT are reports of income you received from the Division of Taxation during the tax year. The IRS requires government agencies to report certain payments made during the year because those payments are considered taxable income for the recipients. The State of New Jersey does not mail Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments, to report the amount of a State tax refund a taxpayer received. State Income Tax refunds may be taxable income for federal purposes for individuals who itemized his/her deductions on his/her federal tax return in the previous year. Taxpayers who need this information to complete his/her federal returns can view or print his/her 1099-G information online. For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions Form 1099-G and Form 1099-INT

 

Note: 1099-G statements for unemployment insurance benefits are issued by the Division of Unemployment Insurance within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. For more information, visit their website.

The New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services’ Alternative Filing Branch is responsible for returns that are electronically filed using commercial software such as TurboTax. For answers to questions about the e-file program, including questions on document control numbers (DCNs), contact the Revenue and Enterprise Services at 609-292-9292 and select the option for “electronic filing and payment services.”

If you were a resident of New Jersey for only part of the year and your income from all sources for the entire year was more than $20,000 ($10,000 if filing status is single or married/CU partner, filing separate return), you must file a New Jersey resident Income Tax return and report any income you received while you were a New Jersey resident. If you had any income from New Jersey sources while you were a nonresident, you may also need to file a New Jersey nonresident return (Form NJ-1040NR). View additional information on filing a part-year return.

As a result of the Reciprocal Personal Income Tax Agreement between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, New Jersey residents who receive compensation from Pennsylvania sources are not subject to Pennsylvania income tax on those earnings. If you are a New Jersey resident and Pennsylvania income tax was withheld from wages you earned there, you must file a Pennsylvania return to get a refund. To stop the withholding of Pennsylvania income tax, complete Form REV-419, Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate, and give it to your employer. More information is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue website or by calling 1-717-787-8201.

As a result of the Reciprocal Personal Income Tax Agreement between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, New Jersey residents who receive compensation from Pennsylvania sources are not subject to Pennsylvania income tax on those earnings. If you are a New Jersey resident and Pennsylvania income tax was withheld from wages you earned there, you must file a Pennsylvania return to get a refund. To stop the withholding of Pennsylvania income tax, complete Form REV-419, Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate, and give it to your employer. More information is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue website or by calling 1-717-787-8201.

In addition, if your Pennsylvania employer did not withhold New Jersey Income Tax, you must pay the amount due to New Jersey and you may be required to make estimated tax payments.

For more information, see the Reciprocal Personal Income Tax Agreement between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The mailing address for your New Jersey return and/or payment depends on the form you are filing and if you are due a refund or making a payment. View the list of mailing addresses.

Residents. To amend your New Jersey resident return, file Form NJ-1040X for the appropriate year. You must file a paper form regardless of how you filed your original return.

Nonresidents. New Jersey does not have a special form for amending nonresident returns. To amend a nonresident return, you must file a paper Form NJ-1040NR for the appropriate year. Write the word “Amended” in bold letters in the upper right-hand corner of the return.

Income Taxability

No. Federal Social Security benefits are not taxable. Do not include these amounts on the New Jersey return. Social Security also should not be reported on the Property Tax Credit Application, Form NJ-1040-H.

Unemployment compensation and temporary disability (including family leave insurance benefits) received from the State of New Jersey or as third-party sick pay are not taxable. Do not include these amounts on your New Jersey return.

For New Jersey Income Tax purposes, the Homestead Benefit and Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) payments are not taxable. Do not report these amounts on the New Jersey return.

Information on the federal income tax treatment of these payments, called “recoveries” by the IRS, can be found on the IRS website.

Deductions

No. New Jersey law does not allow a deduction from income for sales taxes paid.

For New Jersey purposes you can deduct these amounts only if the child was your dependent. For more information, see Technical Advisory Memorandum TAM 2011-14.  

Miscellaneous

Electronic (Paperless) Returns: If you used NJ WebFile or New Jersey Online Income Tax Filing, you received a confirmation number that serves as proof that your return was successfully filed. Your return is not filed until you receive your confirmation number. If you filed your return using software such as TurboTax, the software company will notify you about the receipt of your return. If you had a tax practitioner file your return electronically, the practitioner should notify you about whether your return was accepted for filing.

Paper Returns: Paper returns and payments are not logged in as they are received. Division personnel cannot verify receipt of your return until the return or payment appears in our computer system.

No, the New Jersey Income Tax rates have not changed for 2018.

For more information see the following:

New Jersey Income Tax forms are available on our website.

You can get a copy of a previously filed New Jersey Income Tax return by completing Form DCC-1. Mail the completed form to: New Jersey Division of Taxation, Document Control Center, PO Box 269, Trenton, NJ 08695-0269.

You can also get copies of previously filed New Jersey returns (NJ-1040, NJ-1040NR, or NJ-1041) by delivering a completed DCC-1 to a Division of Taxation Regional Information Center. Regional Information Centers can provide copies of returns only to the person(s) who signed the requested tax return or to the taxpayer’s authorized representative. The representative must provide a Form M-5008-R, Appointment of Taxpayer Representative, that covers the requested return(s). A photo ID of the taxpayer (or the taxpayer’s authorized representative) is required.