New Jersey ANCHOR Benefit: Eligibility, Filing, and Payment Timing

The New Jersey ANCHOR benefit pays eligible homeowners $1,000 or $1,500 and eligible renters $450 for the 2025 tax year, with an extra $250 for filers who were 65 or older by December 31, 2025. Eligibility turns on residency on October 1, 2025 and on your 2025 New Jersey gross income rather than the size of your property tax bill. The filing deadline for the 2025 benefit is November 2, 2026.¹

How Much You Get

Your amount depends on whether you own or rent, your age, and your New Jersey gross income from line 29 of your NJ-1040.²

Homeowners:

Income of $150,000 or less, under 65: $1,500
Income of $150,000 or less, 65 or older: $1,750
Income between $150,001 and $250,000, under 65: $1,000
Income between $150,001 and $250,000, 65 or older: $1,250

Renters:

Under 65: $450
65 or older: $700

The $250 senior bonus is already built into those figures. Homeowners with income above $250,000 and renters with income above $150,000 do not qualify.²

Two other rules affect the final amount. If you are 65 or older and either weren’t required to file a New Jersey return or didn’t claim the $50 Property Tax Credit on your return, that $50 is added to your ANCHOR payment automatically. And your combined relief from ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, Stay NJ, and certain property tax deductions cannot exceed the property taxes you actually paid on your home that year.²

Who Qualifies

Homeowners must have owned and lived in a New Jersey home as their principal residence on October 1, 2025. The property must have been subject to property taxes, and 2025 New Jersey gross income must be $250,000 or less.¹

Renters must have rented and lived in a New Jersey residence as their main home on October 1, 2025, with their name on the lease or rental agreement. The rental property must have been subject to local property taxes, and 2025 New Jersey gross income must be $150,000 or less.³

Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits do not count toward the income limit.⁴

How to Apply

How you file depends on your age and whether you receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits.

Filers Under 65 Without Disability Benefits

Most people in this group don’t need to do anything. The state will auto-file your 2025 application (Form ANC-1) and send a confirmation letter in August 2026. If the letter is accurate, your benefit is processed automatically.¹

If your banking information or mailing address has changed, or you weren’t auto-filed, you can file online, by phone, or by mail. Online filers verify identity through ID.me. If you’d rather not use ID.me, submit a paper application.³

Seniors and Disability Benefit Recipients

If you’re 65 or older, or you receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, the state will not auto-file you. You must submit Form PAS-1, a single application that covers ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ. File the PAS-1 even if you don’t think you qualify for all three.⁵

What to Have Ready

You’ll need your County/Municipality Code and Block/Lot/Qualifier from your property tax bill, the amount of property taxes paid, your 2025 New Jersey gross income, and your Social Security number or ITIN. If you haven’t filed your 2025 NJ-1040 yet, complete that first so you know your reportable income.⁴

The 2025 filing deadline is November 2, 2026.⁶

When the Money Arrives

Payments go out by direct deposit or paper check. If you don’t provide bank account information, you’ll get a check by mail. Payments start as early as September 15 and continue on a rolling basis, with most applicants paid within 90 days of filing.¹

You can check status through the New Jersey Division of Taxation’s Property Tax Relief Benefit Status tool using your Social Security number or ITIN and your ZIP code. It will show whether the application is processing, whether no record exists, or whether the benefit has been issued and when.⁷

How ANCHOR Fits With Stay NJ and Senior Freeze

Seniors who file the PAS-1 are considered for three programs at once, and the amounts can stack up to the cap of your actual property tax bill.

Stay NJ, which began paying out in early 2026, reimburses homeowners aged 65 and older for 50% of their property tax bill, up to $6,500 for 2025. You must have owned and lived in your home for all 12 months of 2025 and have income under $500,000. Stay NJ is calculated after ANCHOR and Senior Freeze and is paid in quarterly installments.⁸

Senior Freeze reimburses the difference between your property taxes in a base year and the current year, effectively holding your taxes at the earlier amount. It has its own income and residency rules, but the single PAS-1 covers it too.⁹

Are ANCHOR Payments Taxable?

ANCHOR payments are not taxable for New Jersey purposes and shouldn’t be reported on your state return.¹⁰

Federal treatment depends on how you file. If you take the federal standard deduction, state property tax relief payments generally don’t need to be included in income. If you itemize and deducted state property taxes, you may need to report part of the benefit as a recovery. The rules are in IRS Publication 525 and the Form 1040 instructions.¹¹

1
NJ Division of Taxation. Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR)
2
NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program – How Benefits Are Calculated
3
NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Programs FAQs
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NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program – Line-By-Line Filing Instructions
5
NJ Division of Taxation. 2025 Form PAS-1 Application for Property Tax Relief
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NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Filing Information
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NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Benefit Status
8
NJ Division of Taxation. Stay NJ – Property Tax Relief for Senior Citizens
9
NJ Division of Taxation. Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement)
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NJ Division of Taxation. Income Tax – Treatment of New Jersey Property Tax Benefit Payments
11
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues Guidance on State Tax Payments