New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 18 - TREASURY - TAXATION › Chapter 14 - SENIOR CITIZENS', DISABLED PERSONS', SURVIVING SPOUSES'/CIVIL UNION PARTNERS' DEDUCTION › Subchapter 1 - DEFINITIONS › Section 18:14-1.1 - Words and phrases defined

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Act" refers to the Senior Citizens', Disabled Persons',
				  Surviving Spouses'/Civil Union Partners' Deduction authorized by
				  N.J.S.A.
				  54:4-8.40 et seq.
"Annual income limit" shall be: $ 10,000 for the year 1983 and
				  each year thereafter, exclusive of certain income as identified by constitutional
				  provision, statute, or administrative regulation. There are certain categories of
				  income that are to be excluded from income for eligibility purposes, such as those
				  set forth in Article VIII, section 1, paragraph 4 of the New Jersey Constitution and
				  N.J.S.A.
				  54:4-8.41.
"Blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the
				  better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye, which is accompanied by a
				  limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field
				  subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees, shall be considered as having a
				  central visual acuity of 20/200 or less.
"Business income" means gross income derived from a business,
				  trade, profession, or from the rental of property after deductions of the ordinary
				  and necessary expenses attributable to the business, trade, profession, or from the
				  property's rental, as allowed under the Federal Internal Revenue Code and
				  regulations.
"Citizen and resident of this State" means a person who on
				  October 1 of the pre-tax year is a permanent resident or domiciliary of New Jersey
				  and who has been such for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding
				  October 1 of the pre-tax year. Such person need not hold United States' citizenship
				  in order to be eligible for the deduction.
"Civil Union Partner" means a person who has established a civil
				  union pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  37:1-30.
"Cooperative" means a housing corporation or association
				  incorporated or organized under the laws of New Jersey, which entitles its
				  shareholders to possess and occupy for dwelling purposes a house, apartment, or
				  other structure owned or leased by the corporation or association.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Taxation,
				  Department of the Treasury, State of New Jersey.
"Dwelling house" means the dwelling where claimant makes his or
				  her principal and permanent home. Where a claimant resides in housing, which is his
				  or her principal place of residence and occupies a seasonal home in New Jersey
				  during the summer months or other seasonal duration, the seasonal home cannot be
				  considered a dwelling house upon which claimant receives this deduction. If a
				  claimant owns, but occupies only a portion of, a property, the tax deduction is
				  applied to the taxes due from that portion of the property that he or she occupies
				  as his or her dwelling house.
"Federal Internal Revenue Code income definition--when
				  applicable" means that, except as otherwise indicated, the definition of income
				  under the Federal Internal Revenue Code and regulations shall apply to compute the
				  annual income and anticipated income to determine whether the claimant qualifies for
				  the deduction in the tax year for which the deduction is claimed.
"Income" means that the claimant's anticipated income from all
				  sources for the tax year for which the deduction is claimed will not exceed the
				  applicable annual income limit, exclusive of Social Security benefits; benefits
				  received under the Federal Railroad Retirement Act and other Federal pension,
				  disability, and retirement programs; or pension, disability, or retirement programs
				  of any state or its political subdivisions, or agencies thereof, for persons not
				  covered under the Federal Social Security Act. Income shall include, but not be
				  limited to, salaries, wages, bonuses, commissions, tips, and other compensations
				  before payroll deductions, all dividends, interest, realized capital gains,
				  royalties, income from rents, business income, and, in their entirety, pension,
				  annuity, and retirement benefits. Realized capital gains, except for capital gain
				  resulting from the sale or exchange of real property owned and used by the taxpayer
				  as his or her principal residence, and on which he or she received a deduction
				  allowed by this Act, and dividends, interest, pensions, annuities, and retirement
				  benefits must be included in full without deductions even though they may be wholly
				  or partially exempt for Federal income tax purposes.
1. Examples of what constitutes income can be found in the
				  revised guidelines for real property tax deduction for senior citizens, disabled
				  persons, and surviving spouses/civil union partners available on the Local Property
				  Tax Reference Materials page on the Division of Taxation's website:
http://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/lpt/referencematerials.shtml
.
2. Excludable Income. Pursuant to Article VIII, section 1,
				  paragraph 4 of the New Jersey Constitution and
				  N.J.S.A.
				  54:4-8.41, applicants may exclude benefits under
				  only one of the following three categories:
i. The Federal Social Security Act and all its amendments and
				  supplements;
ii. Any other Federal government program, or pursuant to any
				  other Federal law, which provides benefits in whole or in part instead of benefits
				  referred to in, or for persons excluded from coverage under the Federal Social
				  Security Act, including, but not limited to, the Federal Railroad Retirement Act and
				  Federal pension, disability, and retirement programs; or
iii. Pension, disability, or retirement programs of any state or
				  its political subdivisions, or agencies thereof, for persons not covered under, the
				  Federal Social Security Act, provided that the total amount of benefits to be
				  excluded by any owner under items i or ii above shall not be in excess of the
				  maximum amount of benefits payable to, and allowable for exclusion by, an owner in
				  similar circumstances under i above.
3. Where claimant and spouse/civil union partners are receiving
				  pension, disability, or retirement benefits, the combined benefits received by the
				  spouses/partners may be excluded, subject to the maximum limits provided by
				  law.
4. Income received by the claimant and spouse/civil union partner
				  is combined to determine the claimant's annual income and anticipated income amount,
				  unless they are living apart in a state of separation as of October 1 of the pre-tax
				  year.
5. Income of members of a claimant's family, other than his or
				  her spouse/civil union partner, shall not be combined with the income of the
				  claimant when determining annual income limit.
"Mutual housing corporation" means a not for profit corporation
				  incorporated under the laws of New Jersey on a mutual or cooperative basis within
				  the scope of section 607 of the "National Defense Housing Act," Pub. L. 76-849 (
				  42 U.S.C.
				  §§
										1521 et seq.), which acquired a
				  National Defense Housing Project authority.
"Owned" means ownership of an estate in fee, life estate, or
				  ownership of qualifying shares in a cooperative or mutual housing corporation,
				  individually or as joint tenants, tenants in common, or tenants by the entirety.
				  Ownership extends to property where title is held by a partnership to the extent of
				  the claimant's interest as a partner therein, and by a guardian, trustee, committee,
				  conservator, or other fiduciary for any person who would otherwise be eligible to
				  claim the deduction. Ownership shall not include an estate for a term of years, a
				  leasehold estate, an estate of less than a fee interest, or where property title is
				  held by a corporation other than a mutual housing corporation as stated
				  above.
"Permanently and totally disabled" means total and permanent
				  inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically
				  determinable physical or mental impairment, including blindness.
"Post-tax year" means the calendar year immediately following the
				  "tax year."
" Pre-tax year" means the calendar year immediately preceding the
				  "tax year."
"Property tax deduction amount" shall not exceed: $ 250.00 in the
				  year 1983 and in each year thereafter.
"PTD" means property tax deduction.
"Real property tax deduction" means the deduction for senior
				  citizen's or for permanently and totally disabled persons and their surviving
				  spouses/civil union partners in certain cases against the real property taxes
				  payable by such persons if they were not eligible for the deduction.
"Resident" means one legally domiciled within the State of New
				  Jersey for a period of one year immediately preceding October 1 of the pre-tax year.
				  Seasonal or temporary residence within the State, of whatever duration, shall not
				  constitute domicile within the State for purposes of qualifying for the deduction.
				  Absence from this State for a period of 12 months shall be prima facie evidence of
				  abandonment of domicile in this State. The burden of establishing legal domicile
				  within the State is upon the claimant.
"State of separation" means a permanent and indefinite period of
				  separation and shall not mean temporary periods of separation, such as separate
				  vacations, business trips, and hospitalizations.
"Surviving spouse/civil union partner" means the surviving
				  spouse/civil union partner of the deceased citizen and resident of this State who
				  during his or her life received a real property tax deduction pursuant to this Act,
				  so long as he or she remains unmarried/not in a new civil union and a resident in
				  the same dwelling house for which said deduction was granted. Said surviving
				  spouse/civil union partner shall be eligible for the same deduction, upon the same
				  conditions, with respect to the same real property, provided that he or she is 55
				  years of age or older at the time of the death of said citizen and resident
				  deduction recipient.
"Tax year" means the calendar year in which the general property
				  tax is due and payable.
"Tenancy by the entirety" means ownership of real property by
				  both a husband and wife/civil union partners by virtue of title acquired by them
				  jointly after marriage/entering into a civil union and is defined in
				  N.J.S.A.
				  46:3-17.2.