New Jersey $6,000 Veteran Income Tax Exemption

N.J.S.A. 54A:3-1(b)7 gives a $6,000 exemption against New Jersey gross income to a "taxpayer who is a veteran honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, a reserve component thereof, or the National Guard of New Jersey in a federal active duty status". P.L.2019, c.146 doubled it from $3,000 from tax year 2020. Who. The Division of Taxation says any veteran discharged on or before the last day of the tax year qualifies, on the resident or the nonresident return, and that a spouse who is also a veteran takes a second $6,000 on a joint return. It cannot be claimed for a domestic partner or a dependent. The statute reaches reserve and New Jersey Guard members discharged from federal active duty; the Division's page mentions only the Armed Forces, so a Guard veteran should point to the statute's words. Surviving spouses. The exemption is the veteran's. A spouse whose veteran died during the tax year can take it on that year's joint return if not remarried by December 31, and never after. This is unlike the $250 property tax deduction, which continues for the surviving spouse. Proof, once. Send a DD-214 or other document showing the character of service with the Veteran Income Tax Exemption Submission Form, by upload, mail or fax, the first time you claim it. You must also fill in the oval on the return every year or the exemption is disallowed. The Division matches municipal deduction records and sends invitations to people it thinks may qualify. What it is worth. An exemption reduces taxable income, so at New Jersey's lower brackets $6,000 is worth roughly $84 to $210 a year for a single veteran, more at higher incomes.