NJ ANCHOR property tax relief pays New Jersey homeowners up to $1,750 and renters up to $700 for the 2025 tax year, with applications due November 2, 2026.1NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program Eligibility Most filers under 65 will be auto-enrolled and receive a confirmation letter in August 2026. Seniors and residents receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits are not auto-filed and need to submit the combined Property Tax Relief Application (Form PAS-1), which also screens for Senior Freeze and Stay NJ.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility comes down to residency and income during 2025.2NJ Division of Taxation. Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) Homeowners qualify with New Jersey gross income of $250,000 or less. Renters qualify with income of $150,000 or less. The property has to have been your principal residence, meaning where you actually lived most of the time and where you were registered to vote or received mail.3NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Programs FAQs
Vacation homes, second homes, and rental investment properties do not qualify. Homeowners whose properties were exempt from local property taxes are ineligible as well.3NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Programs FAQs Age and disability status affect how much you get, not whether you’re eligible in the first place.
How Much You Get
The amount depends on whether you own or rent, your 2025 New Jersey gross income (Line 29 of the NJ-1040), and whether you were 65 or older during the year.4NJ Department of the Treasury, Division of Taxation. New Jersey Resident Income Tax Return NJ-1040
Homeowner tiers:5NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program Benefit Calculation
- Income of $150,000 or less, under 65: $1,500
- Income of $150,000 or less, 65 or older: $1,750
- Income of $150,001 to $250,000, under 65: $1,000
- Income of $150,001 to $250,000, 65 or older: $1,250
The extra $250 in the senior tiers is an age supplement stacked on the base amount. Renters within the income limit receive $450, or $700 if they were 65 or older. Age doesn’t otherwise change a renter’s payment.
Whether You Need to File
The program now splits filers into two groups with very different experiences, and knowing which group you’re in matters more than anything else.
Under 65 and No Disability Benefits
If you’re under 65 and don’t receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability payments, you probably don’t need to do anything. The Division of Taxation will auto-file your 2025 ANCHOR application (Form ANC-1) and send a confirmation letter in August 2026.1NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program Eligibility If the letter doesn’t show up, don’t assume the system caught you. You can still file electronically or download Form ANC-1 and mail it in.2NJ Division of Taxation. Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR)
Seniors and Disability Recipients
If you’re 65 or older, or if you collect Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, the state will not auto-file for you. You need to complete Form PAS-1, the combined Property Tax Relief Application covering ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ.2NJ Division of Taxation. Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) The Division mails PAS-1 to prior-year paper filers and to residents who may be newly eligible, and you can submit it online or by mail.6NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Programs
This is the group most likely to leave money behind. If you turned 65 recently or started receiving disability benefits, there’s no safety net. File yourself or receive nothing.
What to Gather Before You File
If you need to submit PAS-1 or a non-auto-filed ANC-1, have the following ready:
- Social Security number or ITIN for yourself and any co-applicants on the deed or lease.
- Your 2025 New Jersey gross income from Line 29 of your NJ-1040. If you didn’t file a New Jersey return, you still need to calculate what that figure would have been.4NJ Department of the Treasury, Division of Taxation. New Jersey Resident Income Tax Return NJ-1040
- Homeowners: block and lot numbers from your local property tax bill.
- An ID.me account for online filing. The old ANCHOR ID and PIN system is gone.1NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program Eligibility
ID.me is the step that catches people off guard. First-time users have to upload a photo ID and complete either self-service verification or a video call. Give yourself extra time your first year. After the account exists, later filings move quickly.
Deadline and Missed Applications
The deadline for the 2025 ANCHOR application is November 2, 2026, for both homeowners and renters using Form PAS-1 or Form ANC-1.1NJ Division of Taxation. ANCHOR Program Eligibility The program does not generally offer extensions. Miss the deadline and you typically forfeit that year’s benefit; the state is not obligated to pay retroactive claims for a skipped cycle.
If you expect to be auto-filed, watch for the August 2026 confirmation letter. If it doesn’t arrive, check the Division of Taxation website and file manually with time to spare before November.
Payment Timing and Method
Payments go out by direct deposit or paper check, depending on what you selected. Direct deposit generally arrives faster. The state pays applications in batches through the fall months, so exact timing varies.
If you move after filing but before payment, update your address with the Division of Taxation immediately. A returned check or a failed direct deposit can delay you for months. The state’s online benefit status tool lets you track payment progress with your Social Security number.
Filing for a Deceased Resident
If an eligible homeowner or renter died during or after the benefit year, an executor or a surviving spouse or civil union partner can still file. Submission is by paper application with supporting documents, including a death certificate. The electronic system also accepts an uploaded completed paper application with the required attachments.
Federal Tax Treatment
ANCHOR payments are not subject to New Jersey state income tax. Federal treatment depends on your prior-year return. The IRS treats state tax relief payments as recoveries, so whether the payment is federally taxable turns on whether you itemized deductions and claimed property taxes.7NJ Division of Taxation. Treatment of New Jersey Property Tax Benefit Payments Take the standard deduction and the ANCHOR payment generally isn’t taxable federally. Itemize and deduct property taxes and some or all of the payment could count as taxable income. IRS Publication 525 has the detail.
For residents on Supplemental Security Income, state tax refunds on real property are excluded from the SSI unearned income calculation, so an ANCHOR payment should not affect SSI eligibility.8Social Security Administration. Income and Resource Exclusions
One Form Covers Three Programs
Form PAS-1 is designed to screen you for all of New Jersey’s property tax relief programs at once. Alongside ANCHOR:
- Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) reimburses the difference if your property taxes rose since a base year. Available to residents 65 and older or those on disability benefits who meet separate income limits.
- Stay NJ is a newer credit calculated after ANCHOR and Senior Freeze amounts are set. The Division uses your PAS-1 information to determine eligibility automatically.6NJ Division of Taxation. Property Tax Relief Programs
Filing PAS-1 once covers all three, so there’s no reason to skip it even if you think only ANCHOR applies to you. Qualifying for one program does not disqualify you from the others. The state evaluates you across all three and sends a letter in the fall with your specific benefit amounts.