How to File and Pay the NJ-500 New Jersey Payroll Tax Form

To file NJ-500, log into New Jersey’s online payroll tax service, select the NJ-500, enter the reporting month and the New Jersey Gross Income Tax you withheld, and pay electronically by the 15th of the following month. You only file it for months in which you withheld $500 or more, and never for the third month of a calendar quarter — that month’s withholding goes on the quarterly NJ-927 instead.¹

When You Actually Have to File One

The trigger is a dollar figure, not a schedule. If your New Jersey Gross Income Tax withholding for the first or second month of a calendar quarter reaches $500 or more, you must file an NJ-500 for that month.² Under $500? You can hold the amount and roll it into your quarterly NJ-927 filing.¹ There is no zero-dollar NJ-500; if you had no withholding or stayed below the threshold, you file nothing that month.

The third month of any quarter is always reported on the NJ-927, never on an NJ-500. That single rule prevents most of the double-filing mistakes the Division sees.

One boundary worth flagging: the $10,000 figure some employers have heard about is a different rule. If your prior-year withholding hit $10,000 or more, New Jersey designates you a “weekly” payer, and you file your quarterly return on Form NJ-927-W instead of the standard NJ-927.² Weekly payers still use NJ-500 for monthly remittances whenever they cross the $500 line. Crossing $10,000 also puts you under a mandatory electronic funds transfer requirement for all tax payments.³

What to Have Ready Before You Log In

Pull these together first so you’re not hunting mid-filing:

Your 12-digit New Jersey Taxpayer Identification Number, which is your 9-digit federal EIN plus a 3-digit state suffix. If no suffix was ever assigned, enter three zeros after your FEIN.⁴⁵
Your PIN for the payroll tax service.
The exact New Jersey Gross Income Tax you actually deducted from wages during the reporting month, taken from your payroll records rather than an estimate.
Bank routing and account numbers for ACH debit or e-check. If you plan to use ACH credit, your bank has to be able to originate CCD+/TXP format payments.

Filing and Paying, Step by Step

Every NJ-500 goes through the Division of Taxation’s online payroll tax service. Sign in with your taxpayer ID and PIN, choose the NJ-500, pick the tax period (month and year), and enter both the amount of tax withheld and the amount you are remitting.

Payment is built into the same session. Your options:

ACH debit, also called e-check. You authorize the state to pull the funds from your bank account, and New Jersey covers the processing cost.⁶
ACH credit. You direct your bank to push the payment to the state. Your bank may charge setup or per-transaction fees and must support CCD+/TXP format. Enroll for this method with Form EFT1-C.⁶
Credit card, through a third-party processor that adds a convenience fee. The state does not publish a fixed percentage.

When you submit, the system returns a confirmation number and updates your account history right away. Save that confirmation. It is your proof of timely filing and payment if a question comes up later, and you’ll need it again when you prepare the quarterly return.

Due Dates

NJ-500 is due on or before the 15th day of the month after the reporting month.¹ January withholding is due February 15, and so on. When the 15th falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.

Because the third month of each quarter always rolls into the NJ-927, the practical calendar is:

Q1: January due February 15; February due March 15. March goes on the NJ-927 due April 30.
Q2: April due May 15; May due June 15. June goes on the NJ-927 due July 30.
Q3: July due August 15; August due September 15. September goes on the NJ-927 due October 30.
Q4: October due November 15; November due December 15. December goes on the NJ-927 due January 30.

How the Monthly NJ-500 Feeds the Quarterly NJ-927

Every employer except domestic employers has to file a quarterly NJ-927 (or NJ-927-W for weekly payers), even if no tax was withheld during the quarter.² The quarterly return reports withholding for all three months, credits whatever you already paid on your NJ-500 filings, and collects the balance — usually the third month’s withholding — by the 30th of the month after the quarter ends.

Your NJ-500 totals and your quarterly figures have to match. If they don’t, the Division’s system tends to generate an automated notice. Keeping the confirmation numbers and remitted amounts in one place makes the reconciliation quick.

After year end, a separate annual reconciliation, Form NJ-W-3, ties your monthly and quarterly filings back to the W-2s you issued and is due February 15.¹

Fixing a Mistake on an NJ-500 You Already Filed

If you overpaid, the preferred fix is to reduce the amount on your next NJ-500 by the overpayment and submit a written explanation, a copy of the erroneous form, and your calculations.⁷ You can also wait and claim the refund on your annual NJ-W-3 with the same supporting documentation.

If you catch the error after every NJ-500 and the NJ-W-3 for that year are already filed, prepare a new NJ-W-3, write “Amended” across the top, and submit it with corrected figures and the backup paperwork.⁷ Underpayments also get corrected on the next filing, but pay the shortfall quickly to hold down interest.

What Late Filing or Late Payment Costs

Two penalties apply when you miss the deadline. The late filing penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is overdue, capped at 25% of the liability, plus a flat $100 per month for each month the return stays unfiled.⁸

Interest runs separately at the prime rate plus 3%, compounded annually. At year end, any unpaid tax, penalty, and interest fold into the balance on which future interest is charged, so small underpayments grow fast if ignored.⁹

There is also personal exposure. If you withheld the tax from employees and failed to remit it, New Jersey holds you individually liable for the money, not just the business entity.¹⁰

1
New Jersey Division of Taxation. NJ Division of Taxation – Income Tax – Reporting and Remitting
2
New Jersey Department of the Treasury. NJ-WT New Jersey Income Tax Withholding Instructions
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NJ Division of Taxation. EFT Payment Options
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Business.NJ.gov. Register for Taxes
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New Jersey Department of Treasury – Division of Revenue. On-Line Business Registration Certificate Service
6
State of NJ – Division of Revenue. Electronic Funds Transfer
7
Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). N.J. Admin. Code 18-2-5.8 – Refund Claim Procedures
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New Jersey Division of Taxation. New Jersey Tax Debts – Help
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New Jersey Division of Taxation. New Jersey Division of Taxation – Penalties, Interest, and Collection Fees
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Division of Taxation. Employer Payroll Tax