Homestead Property Tax Rebate Applications to be Mailed
TRENTON – State Treasurer David Rousseau announced today that New Jersey homeowners who are under 65 years of age and who are not disabled will begin to receive their 2007 homestead rebate applications this week. The Division of Taxation will be mailing application packets to eligible homeowners over the next two weeks. This is the second of two mailings for the program this year, as senior and disabled residents received their applications in May. The deadline for filing all applications is August 15, 2008.
“While the new State budget contains the single largest spending reduction in State history, property tax relief is up and rebates have been preserved for 90 percent of last year’s recipients,” said Treasurer Rousseau. “The budget also sustains rebates that average about $1,000 for about 1.6 million homeowners,” he said. The Treasurer noted that the Homestead Rebate Program, funded at more than $1.7 billion, is part of a $32.8 billion budget that dedicates more than one half of all spending to property tax relief.
New Jersey residents who owned a home that was their principal residence on October 1, 2007, and paid property taxes on that home, will qualify for a rebate this year, provided their 2007 gross income was $150,000 or less. For residents with incomes of $100,000 or less, the rebate will be 20 percent of the first $10,000 in property taxes paid in 2006. Homeowners with gross income of between $100,001 and $150,000 will receive rebates of 10 percent of the first $10,000 of property taxes paid in 2006.
With very few exceptions, the homeowner rebate applications must be filed by phone or over the Internet. Homeowners are urged to read the instructions and complete the worksheet in the rebate application packet before attempting to file. The homeowner rebate automated telephone filing system and the Internet filing application are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once they receive their applications, homeowners can file by phone by calling 1-877-658-2972, or online at: www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/. The filing deadline is August 15, 2008.
Rebate applications were mailed to senior and disabled homeowners in early May. Those who did not receive an application packet then, but who have filed with the assistance of Division of Taxation personnel, may receive a packet in the coming weeks. These homeowners should not apply again if they already filed and received a confirmation number, or if they completed and mailed in a paper application.
Checks for senior and disabled homeowners who filed by the original filing deadline of June 2 are scheduled to be mailed on or about July 31, 2008, while checks for those who filed between June 2 and August 15 will be issued as quickly as possible. Checks for all nonsenior, nondisabled homeowners are scheduled to be mailed in the fall.
For more information about the Homestead Rebate Program homeowners may call the Homestead Rebate Hotline at 1-888-238-1233 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Homestead rebate information is also available on the Division of Taxation’s Web site at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/homestead/hrintro.htm and through the Division’s Automated Tax Information System at 1-800-323-4400. Text telephone service for the hearing impaired is provided at 1-800-286-6613 or 609-984-7300.
