How to File the NJ ST-50 Quarterly Sales and Use Tax Return

The New Jersey ST-50 quarterly sales and use tax return is filed electronically through the New Jersey Tax Portal and is due on the 20th of the month after each quarter closes. Every business holding a Certificate of Authority has to file it, even for quarters with zero sales.¹ The return reports your taxable sales, exempt sales, sales tax collected, and any use tax you owe on out-of-state purchases you brought into New Jersey.

When the ST-50 Is Due

Each quarterly return covers three months and is due on the 20th of the following month:

First quarter (January through March): due April 20
Second quarter (April through June): due July 20
Third quarter (July through September): due October 20
Fourth quarter (October through December): due January 20

Returns and payments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. When the 20th lands on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.¹

Filing is not optional in slow periods. A return is required for every quarter even when no tax is due and no sales occurred.¹ Skipping a quarter because nothing happened is one of the fastest ways to trigger a delinquency notice.

Numbers to Have Ready

Gross Receipts and Taxable Sales

Start with total gross receipts for the quarter, meaning every dollar that came in from sales regardless of whether the sale was taxable. Subtract your exempt sales to arrive at taxable receipts. Common exempt categories include most clothing and footwear, though fur clothing, accessories, and sport equipment don’t qualify,² along with most unprepared grocery food and sales to tax-exempt buyers who provided valid exemption certificates.

Sales tax collected during the quarter should equal your taxable receipts multiplied by the state rate of 6.625%.³ Small rounding differences are normal, but a significant gap between what you collected and what the math produces is worth explaining before you file.

Use Tax on Out-of-State Purchases

Use tax applies when you buy something from an out-of-state seller who didn’t charge New Jersey sales tax. Office furniture ordered online, software subscriptions billed from another state, equipment purchased at an out-of-state trade show: if you’re using it in New Jersey and didn’t pay sales tax, you owe use tax at the same 6.625% rate, and you report and pay it on the ST-50.⁴

The Division of Taxation runs periodic use-tax audit programs targeting businesses that regularly buy taxable goods and services from out-of-state vendors.⁴ Underreporting looks minor until an auditor pulls three years of purchase records.

Exemption Certificates on File

When a buyer claims a resale exemption, you need a completed Form ST-3 (Resale Certificate) on file. The certificate must include the purchaser’s name and address, their New Jersey tax identification number (or federal EIN if not registered in New Jersey), the type of business, and the specific reason for exemption. Paper certificates require the buyer’s signature.⁵

You have 90 days after a sale to collect a completed certificate and still be relieved of liability for the uncollected tax. After that window closes, the tax falls on you. Keep certificates, along with sales records, invoices, and receipts that support the return, for at least four years from the date of the last sale they cover.⁵

How to File Through the Tax Portal

Paper returns are not accepted. All sales and use tax returns must be filed electronically through the New Jersey Tax Portal.¹ If you haven’t set up your portal account yet, register there and link your business using your New Jersey tax identification number.

The Division of Taxation publishes downloadable worksheets that mirror the ST-50’s line items, so you can organize your figures before entering them online.⁶ Ten minutes on the worksheet catches errors that are more work to fix once filed.

Once you’ve entered your figures, confirmed your business information, and authorized payment, submit the return. Save the confirmation number the portal generates. That’s your proof of timely filing if a question comes up later.

Payment Methods

New Jersey accepts payment by electronic funds transfer. There are two options:

ACH Debit, where you authorize the state to pull the payment from your bank account. The state covers processing costs.
ACH Credit, where you instruct your bank to push the payment to the state. Your bank may charge setup or per-transaction fees, and those costs are on you.

Wire transfers are not accepted.⁷ For most small to mid-sized filers, ACH Debit is simpler because there’s no coordination with a bank and no extra fees.

Monthly Payments for Higher-Volume Businesses

If your business collected more than $30,000 in New Jersey sales and use tax during the prior calendar year and collects more than $500 in the first or second month of the current quarter, you must make monthly payments for those months through the Tax Portal.¹ Both thresholds have to be met before the monthly obligation kicks in.

If prior-year collections were $30,000 or less, no monthly payment is due regardless of what any single month brings in. And when the monthly requirement does apply, a month with $500 or less in liability can be rolled into the quarterly ST-50 instead of filed separately.¹ Either way, the quarterly ST-50 still has to be filed as a summary of the full quarter.

Penalties and Interest for Late Filing

Missing the ST-50 deadline triggers two penalties that stack. The late filing penalty is $100 for each month or partial month the return is delinquent, plus 5% of the unpaid tax per month, capped at 25% of the underpayment. If you still haven’t filed within 30 days of the Division’s first delinquency notice, the 5% monthly penalty applies to the total tax liability rather than just the underpayment.⁸

A separate late payment penalty of 5% of the tax due applies when the tax itself isn’t paid on time. Interest accrues on unpaid amounts from the original due date at the prime rate plus 3%, compounded annually. At the end of each calendar year, any remaining tax, penalties, and unpaid interest fold into the balance that continues accruing interest.⁹

Persistent non-filing carries a consequence beyond money. The Division of Taxation can revoke your Certificate of Authority, which means losing the legal right to make taxable sales in New Jersey.¹⁰

Fixing a Return After You File

Catch an error after submitting? File an amended return through the Tax Portal for the same quarter the mistake occurred. Fill in every line on the amended return, not just the lines that changed.¹

For errors on monthly payments, no separate amendment is needed. Correct the amounts when you file the quarterly return covering that same quarter. If the correction produces an overpayment, file Form A-3730 (Claim for Refund) by mail or through the portal to request the money back.¹

If You Operate in an Urban Enterprise Zone

Businesses in one of New Jersey’s designated Urban Enterprise Zones collect sales tax at a reduced rate of 3.3125% on qualifying in-person sales and don’t file the ST-50 at all. Instead, they file the UZ-50 monthly, due by the 20th of the following month, with the same weekend and holiday extension.¹¹

1
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Filing and Remitting Sales and Use Tax
2
Justia. New Jersey Code 54-32B-8.4 – Clothing and Footwear Exemption
3
Justia. New Jersey Code 54-32B-3 – Taxes Imposed
4
New Jersey Division of Taxation. ANJ-7 New Jersey Use Tax
5
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Sales Tax Form ST-3 Resale Certificate
6
New Jersey Department of the Treasury. New Jersey Form ST-50 Worksheet
7
State of New Jersey Division of Revenue. Electronic Funds Transfer
8
Justia. New Jersey Code 54-49-4 – Late Filing Penalty
9
New Jersey Division of Taxation. When to File and Pay
10
Justia. New Jersey Code 54-32B-22 – Failure to Collect or Pay Over Tax
11
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Urban Enterprise Zone Overview