NJ GIT/REP Forms and Seller’s Residency Certification

If you’re selling real property in New Jersey, you’ll need to file one of the NJ GIT/REP forms with your deed before the county clerk will record the sale. There are four forms in the series, and which one you use depends on whether you’re a New Jersey resident, a nonresident who qualifies for an exemption, or a nonresident who owes an estimated income tax payment at closing. Nonresidents who don’t qualify for an exemption pay the greater of 10.75% of the gain or 2% of the total sale price.¹

The Four GIT/REP Forms and Who Files Each

The county clerk will not accept a deed for recording unless it comes with a properly completed GIT/REP-1, GIT/REP-2, GIT/REP-3, or GIT/REP-4.² Picking the wrong form is one of the most common reasons deed submissions get rejected.

GIT/REP-3 (Seller’s Residency Certification/Exemption). Filed by New Jersey resident individuals, estates, and trusts, by nonresidents who qualify for one of the statutory exemptions, and by all corporations, partnerships, and LLCs. No estimated payment is required with this form.
GIT/REP-1 (Nonresident Seller’s Tax Declaration). Filed at closing by nonresident individuals, estates, and trusts who owe the estimated tax. The settlement agent submits it with the payment and the deed to the county clerk.
GIT/REP-2 (Nonresident Seller’s Tax Prepayment Receipt). Used when a nonresident wants to pay the estimated tax before closing. The seller brings the GIT/REP-2 and the NJ-1040-ES voucher in person to a Division of Taxation Regional Information Center with the payment. The Division stamps the form, and the seller hands the stamped original to the settlement agent for submission with the deed.
GIT/REP-4 (Waiver). A catch-all for transactions that don’t fit any other category. The seller must email the request to the Division of Taxation with the reason for the exemption, a copy of the settlement statement, and a copy of the deed. The waiver must be approved before the deed goes to the county clerk.

Who Counts as a New Jersey Resident

Residency under the Gross Income Tax Act decides which side of the process you’re on. You’re a resident taxpayer if you’re domiciled in New Jersey, even if you also maintain a home somewhere else. You lose that classification only if you keep no permanent home in New Jersey, maintain a permanent home in another state, and spend 30 days or fewer in New Jersey during the tax year.³

You can also be treated as a resident without being domiciled here: if you maintain a permanent home in New Jersey and spend more than 183 days in the state during the tax year, you’re a resident for tax purposes, with an exception for active-duty military.³ Anyone who satisfies neither test is a nonresident. Residents file the GIT/REP-3 and check Box 1; nonresidents either claim an exemption on the GIT/REP-3 or pay the estimated tax on the GIT/REP-1 or GIT/REP-2.

Exemptions That Let a Nonresident Skip the Payment

A nonresident who qualifies for one of the following situations checks the corresponding box on the GIT/REP-3 and owes no estimated payment at closing.⁴

Principal residence. The property qualifies for the federal exclusion of gain on a home you owned and lived in as your primary residence for at least two of the five years before the sale. New Jersey follows the federal treatment through Box 2.⁵
Foreclosure. The borrower is conveying the property to the lender in foreclosure or in lieu of foreclosure, with no additional consideration.
Government or quasi-government seller. Transfers by a federal or state agency, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, or a private mortgage insurance company.
Total consideration of $1,000 or less. Typically corrective deeds or boundary-line adjustments.
Business entities. Corporations, partnerships, and LLCs check Box 5 to certify they’re not individuals, estates, or trusts.

Checking the wrong box, or leaving the box section blank, will stall the recording just as surely as filing the wrong form.

1031 Like-Kind Exchanges

If you’re rolling proceeds into a replacement property through a 1031 exchange, check Box 7a on the GIT/REP-3 and circle “1031.” If you received only like-kind property and no cash or other non-like-kind assets, also check Box 7b.⁴

Partial exchanges are treated differently. When you receive cash or other non-like-kind property alongside the replacement, the non-exempt portion triggers a tax payment. You can either file a GIT/REP-1 at closing and pay 2% of the non-exempt amount or make an estimated payment after recording using Form NJ-1040-ES. If the exchange collapses entirely, the qualified intermediary must file a GIT/REP-1 and remit 2% of the total consideration.

How the Estimated Tax Is Calculated

A nonresident who doesn’t qualify for an exemption pays the greater of two amounts: 10.75% of the gain from the sale (New Jersey’s highest gross income tax rate), or 2% of the total consideration.⁶ The 2% floor catches most sellers whose gain is small compared to the sale price.

“Consideration” isn’t just the cash you receive. It’s the entire compensation for the transfer, which includes any remaining mortgage balance the buyer assumes.⁶ Sellers sometimes underestimate the 2% floor by applying it to net cash rather than the full consideration.

Make the check payable to “State of NJ – Division of Taxation.”¹ For a GIT/REP-1, the settlement agent submits the check with the deed to the county clerk, who forwards it to the Division. Sending the payment directly to the Division instead will cause the clerk to refuse recording.

Information Every Form Requires

All four forms need the seller’s name, current mailing address, Social Security Number or federal tax identification number, the property’s municipal code, and the block and lot numbers from the local tax map. You’ll also need the total consideration stated on the deed and the closing date. A blank field is grounds for rejection.¹ The GIT/REP-1 also requires the estimated tax calculation itself to be filled in on the designated lines and a completed NJ-1040-ES voucher at the bottom of the form.

When a property has multiple owners, each seller completes a separate form reflecting that owner’s share of the proceeds and tax. Married or civil union couples who file their gross income tax returns jointly can submit a single form together; couples who file separately need separate forms.⁴²

Recording, the Annual Return, and Refunds

After the forms are signed and notarized, the settlement agent submits them with the deed to the county clerk. The clerk verifies that the correct form is attached, complete, and signed. If anything is missing, the clerk refuses to record, which blocks legal title from passing to the buyer.²

Paying at closing doesn’t end your tax obligation. The estimated payment is treated as a credit against your actual New Jersey income tax for the year of the sale. A nonresident still has to file Form NJ-1040NR, report the gain, and reconcile the estimated payment against what’s actually owed.² Residents who filed a GIT/REP-3 still report the gain on the NJ-1040 and pay any tax due through the normal filing process.

Because the calculation uses the highest tax rate and includes a 2% floor, many sellers overpay. If you need the refund before you file your annual return, submit Form A-3128 to the Division’s Taxpayer Accounting Branch with a copy of the settlement statement and any GIT/REP-3 showing you actually qualified for an exemption. The Division won’t process the claim until it confirms it received your payment.⁷ The simpler path is to wait and claim the excess as a credit on the NJ-1040NR.

Trusts, Estates, and Business Entities

Estates and trusts follow the same resident-versus-nonresident split as individuals, but residency is defined by where the entity was established. An estate or trust established under New Jersey law is a resident; anything else is a nonresident and faces the estimated payment requirement.²

Signing rules trip people up. Executors or beneficiaries required to sign the deed sign the GIT/REP; for an estate without a will, the administrator signs; for a trust, the trustee signs. Someone acting in two capacities, such as trustee and beneficiary, signs two separate forms — one for the entity and one as an individual.

Corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and single-member LLCs aren’t subject to the nonresident withholding rule at all. They file the GIT/REP-3 and check Box 5. Business trusts are treated as entities here rather than as gross income tax trusts.

When the Seller Isn’t at Closing

The GIT/REP has to be signed by the person required to sign the deed, but that person doesn’t need to appear in person. An authorized representative can sign with a Power of Attorney or a Letter of Authority.²

If the seller refuses to sign and hasn’t authorized anyone else, the Division generally won’t issue a GIT/REP-4 waiver to get around the signature. The exception is when the signature is genuinely impossible to obtain rather than merely inconvenient, in which case the Division will consider a waiver on its merits. This most often comes up in foreclosures and estates where the original owner is deceased or unreachable.

1
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Nonresident Seller’s Tax Declaration, Form GIT/REP-1
2
New Jersey Division of Taxation. FAQs on Gross Income Tax (GIT) Forms Required for Sale or Transfer of Real Property
3
Justia. New Jersey Code 54A-1-2 – Definitions
4
New Jersey Department of the Treasury. GIT/REP-3 Seller’s Residency Certification/Exemption
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence
6
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Nonresident Seller’s Tax Prepayment Receipt, Form GIT/REP-2
7
New Jersey Division of Taxation. Form A-3128 Claim for Refund of the Estimated Gross Income Tax Payment for the Sale of New Jersey Real Estate