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Treasury’s Division of Taxation Begins Issuing Senior Freeze Reimbursement Checks to Eligible Taxpayers

Number of Approved Applications Ahead 42% Compared to Last Season

 (TRENTON) - Over 125,000 qualifying seniors across New Jersey can soon expect to receive their property tax reimbursement checks through the State’s newly expanded and simplified Senior Freeze program, with more rounds of payments for eligible applicants on the way.

 The Department of the Treasury’s Division of Taxation began issuing Senior Freeze reimbursement checks on Monday, July 15th, with the first wave of payments totaling over $145 million. The Division will continue issuing weekly reimbursements as more applications are filed and approved. The deadline to file an application for Tax Year 2023 is October 31st, 2024.

 Senior Freeze reimburses qualifying seniors and disabled residents for increases in property taxes or mobile home park site fees on their principal residences. Governor Phil Murphy and the Legislature significantly expanded the program for the 2023 filing season to open up the program to 58,000 new households, including increasing the income limit to $163,050 for 2023 and eliminating the requirement that an applicant must be a New Jersey resident for 10 consecutive years. Future annual increases will be determined by the maximum Social Security benefit cost of living increase for that year for single and married filers respectively. 

 The Division of Taxation and Treasury’s Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services worked closely together to streamline the process this year, including reviewing and perfecting pending applications early in the season and prioritizing Senior Freeze payment processing. These efforts led to a 42 percent increase in the number of approved applications by this point in the season compared to last year.

 “The Senior Freeze program eases the burden on many older residents who want to stay in the communities where they’ve raised families, built careers, and made lasting memories,” said State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio. “Our Division of Taxation and Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services have worked hard to simplify and improve the process for our residents to apply for and receive this valuable property tax relief, and the tremendous increase to date in the number of approved applications this early in the season shows their efforts have paid off.”

 The Senior Freeze program is designed to relieve the burden of increasing property taxes for qualified applicants by establishing a base year of eligibility, and “freezing” the property tax at that level by comparing that base with any subsequent year. The difference is then refunded by the State annually.

 In order to qualify for the reimbursement, taxpayers must meet all the eligibility requirements for each year from the base year through the current application year. Eligibility must be continuous, otherwise a new base year must be established.

To be eligible for the 2023 Senior Freeze, a taxpayer must:

• Be age 65 or older on December 31, 2022, or receive Social Security disability payments on December 31, 2022, and also on December 31, 2023; and
• Own and live in their home or lease a site in a mobile home park for a manufactured or mobile home that they have owned since December 31, 2019, or earlier; and
• Paid all 2022 property taxes by June 1, 2023, and all 2023 property taxes by June 1, 2024; and
• Their annual income was $150,000 or less in 2022 and $163,050 or less in 2023. With some exceptions, all income must be taken into account, including Social Security, pension, etc.

Qualifying residents have the option to apply and check the status of their application online through a new direct online filing service created by the Treasury in 2023. Applicants can access the online filing portal at njportal.com/taxation/ptr.

Eligible residents can also call the Senior Freeze Property Tax Reimbursement Information Line for assistance at 1-800-882-6597.