What is it?
The Senior Tax Freeze Program reimburses qualified senior citizens and disabled individuals for increases in their primary residence’s property tax or mobile home park site fees (main home). This property tax relief program does not truly freeze your taxes, but it will pay you for any property tax increases that occur while you are enrolled in the program. If the current year is higher than the base year and you meet all other eligibility requirements, you will receive the difference between your base year (first year of eligibility) and current year property tax amounts.
Who qualifies?
Age is 65 or older on December 31, 2020, or receiving federal Social Security disability benefits (not benefits received on behalf of another person) on or before December 31, 2020.
Consistently resided in New Jersey as a renter or a homeowner since December 31, 2010, or earlier.
A homeowner since at least December 31, 2017 (and you still owned and lived in that home on December 31, 2021) OR Owned a manufactured or mobile home since December 31, 2017, or earlier, and leased a site where you placed it in a mobile home park (and continued to reside there or be under lease as of December 31, 2021).
If you relocated from one New Jersey property to another and were reimbursed for the last full year you resided there, you may be exempted from reapplying for the Senior Tax Freeze Program. For more details, see Requirements for Resuming Eligibility.
If you are a homeowner, property taxes for 2020 must be paid by June 1, 2021, and those for 2021 must be paid by June 1, 2022.
If you are a mobile homeowner, you must have paid your site fees by December 31 of each year.
Your total annual income (assuming you were married or in a civil union and shared a residence) was $202,969 or less in 2020, and $94,178 or less in 2021. For information on income limits from prior years, see Income Limits History.
It is not qualified if it is a second or vacation home, property investment that you rent out to others, property with more than four units, property with fewer than four units that contains more than one commercial unit, or property for which you are completely exempt from paying property taxes on your home, or property for which you have made P.I.L.O.T. (Payments-in-Lieu-of-Tax) payments to your municipality.
How to Apply
Those who are applying for the first time or need to re-enter the Senior Freeze program must submit the PTR-1 application. Your base year property tax amount, which is determined by this form, is what will be utilized to determine future reimbursements. To establish a base year, you must fulfill the eligibility conditions for 2 consecutive years.
The application utilized by program applicants who has a set base year property tax amount is called the PTR-2. If you submitted a 2020 application and were found to be eligible, submit Form PTR-2 along with the relevant verification form (PTR-2A or PTR-2B). Form PTR-2 is not accessible online. If you qualify and have not yet received this application, you must call 1-800-882-6597. The verification form serves as your confirmation of paid and due property taxes. For alternate proof documents, visit Senior Freeze FAQ.
Applications for 2021 must be submitted by October 31, 2022.
Reimbursement Check Information
For homeowners, you can only get a reimbursement if the amount of property taxes you paid this year was more than the total from the base year.
Your reimbursement is based on your share of ownership if you co-owned the property that served as your primary residence with someone else (other than your spouse or civil union partner).
The total of all property tax relief benefits that homeowners receive is limited to the amount of property taxes paid on their primary house during the same year.
If you are a mobile homeowner, your current year’s site fee payment must have exceeded your base year payment in order for you to be reimbursed. If you shared site fees for your mobile home with someone else (who was not your husband or civil union partner), your reimbursement will be prorated according to the portion of site fees you actually paid.
The entire amount of property tax relief benefits that mobile homeowners receive cannot exceed 18% of the annual site fees for their principal residence for the same year.
You must pay back any excess if you are issued a Senior Freeze that is greater than the amount you are entitled to receive.
Check the Status of Your Senior Freeze
To check the status of your application, you can visit the NJ Division of Taxation Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) Inquiry website. If a reimbursement has been issued, the system will inform you of its amount and date of issuance. You will be asked for the Social Security number that was first listed on your Senior Freeze application (Form PTR-1 or Form PTR-2) as well as the ZIP code of your primary residence for the year the application was filed.
Tez Roro holds the designation of Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) from the Real Estate Business Institue (REBI) and is equipped to help you and your family in life transitions. Book a complementary consultation HERE.
