Who Is Exempt From Paying Property Taxes in NJ?

In New Jersey, the only individuals who pay no property tax at all are veterans with a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability (and their un-remarried surviving spouses). Everyone else who gets relief gets a partial break: a $250 deduction for most veterans, a $250 deduction for low-income seniors and disabled homeowners, the Senior Freeze reimbursement, and the newer Stay NJ credit that can cover up to half a senior’s bill. Properties owned by religious, charitable, and educational organizations are also exempt. So when people ask who is exempt from paying property taxes in NJ, the honest answer is a short list for full exemption and a much longer list for meaningful partial relief.

Veterans With a 100% Service-Connected Disability

This is the only program that zeroes out a homeowner’s property tax bill, and there is no dollar cap on the benefit.¹

To qualify, you must have served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, received an honorable discharge, and been certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as having a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability. You also have to be a legal New Jersey resident who owns and occupies the home as a primary residence.

An un-remarried surviving spouse or civil union partner of a qualifying veteran can claim the same exemption, as long as they are a New Jersey resident, own and occupy the home, and can produce the VA’s disability certification for the deceased veteran.¹

Other Honorably Discharged Veterans

Veterans who don’t meet the 100% disability standard can still take a $250 annual deduction off their property tax bill. The requirements are active duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces and an honorable discharge. National Guard and Reserve service counts only if the member was called to active duty for something other than training.²

You must own and occupy the home as your primary residence as of October 1 of the pretax year. An un-remarried surviving spouse or civil union partner of an eligible veteran can also claim it. There is no income limit.²

Low-Income Seniors and Disabled Homeowners

A separate $250 deduction is available to homeowners who are 65 or older or who are permanently and totally disabled. This is a different program from the veteran deduction, and a qualifying older veteran may receive both.

As of October 1 of the pretax year, you must meet all of the following:³

Age 65 or older by December 31 of the pretax year, or permanently and totally disabled with a physician’s certificate or Social Security documentation.
Legal New Jersey resident for at least one year.
Owner and occupant of the home as your primary residence.
Annual income no higher than $10,000, not counting Social Security, federal Railroad Retirement, or government pensions.

Because Social Security is excluded, the $10,000 cap is less restrictive than it looks. Someone with $25,000 in Social Security and $8,000 in other income still falls under the limit. A surviving spouse who was at least 55 at the time the qualifying spouse died can continue the deduction if they haven’t remarried and still meet the other rules.³

Senior Freeze Reimbursement

The Senior Freeze is not an exemption, but for an older or disabled homeowner it often outweighs any of the deductions above. The program fixes your tax liability at the “base year” amount you paid when you first qualified, then sends you a check each year for the difference between that base and your current bill.

For the 2025 application year, you need to meet all of the following:⁴

Age 65 or older, or receiving federal Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement Disability benefits.
Owned and lived in the home since December 31, 2022, or earlier, and still owned and lived there on December 31, 2025.
Three consecutive years of New Jersey residency.
Total 2025 income of $172,475 or less, and income within the limit for your base year as well.

Starting with the 2024 tax year, age, disability, and the three-year residency requirement are measured as of the application year rather than the base year. The prior rule required 10 consecutive years of New Jersey residency and shut out many otherwise-qualified applicants.⁴

Stay NJ Credit for Seniors

Stay NJ is the state’s newest and largest senior relief program. It pays eligible homeowners 50% of their property tax bill, up to $6,500 a year, delivered in quarterly installments.⁵

For the 2025 benefit year, you qualify if you are:

65 or older. Social Security Disability does not qualify you for Stay NJ the way it does for the Senior Freeze.
The owner and occupant of your home for the full 12 months of 2025.
Earning less than $500,000 in income.

Mobile homeowners are not eligible. Homeowners who make Payments-in-Lieu-of-Tax (PILOT) payments to a municipality are.⁵

How the Senior Programs Stack

Qualifying for Senior Freeze, ANCHOR, and Stay NJ does not mean you add all three together. The state calculates ANCHOR first, then the Senior Freeze. If those two combined come to less than 50% of your property taxes (capped at $6,500), Stay NJ fills the remaining gap. If ANCHOR and Senior Freeze already exceed 50%, Stay NJ pays nothing extra. Your combined benefits can never exceed your gross property taxes for the year.⁶⁷

The $250 deductions work differently. They come off your tax bill at the municipal level and are not part of the Stay NJ offset calculation, so an older low-income veteran can realistically collect the veteran deduction, the senior deduction, the Senior Freeze, and Stay NJ in the same year.

Religious, Charitable, and Educational Properties

Individuals are not the only ones who can avoid property tax. New Jersey law exempts property used for religious, educational, or charitable purposes. Houses of worship, schools, and hospitals operated by charitable organizations are the common examples. When a building is used only partly for an exempt purpose and the rest is leased to a for-profit tenant, only the exempt portion escapes taxation.

How to Apply

The $250 Deductions

File the veteran, senior, or disabled-person deduction with your local municipal tax assessor or tax collector by December 31 of the pretax year. Expect to produce a DD-214 for veteran status, a birth certificate or passport for age, and a physician’s certificate or Social Security documentation for disability. The veteran deduction also requires proof of honorable discharge.² The 100% disabled veteran exemption requires a disability certification letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs.¹

Senior Freeze, ANCHOR, and Stay NJ

Homeowners who are 65 or older or who receive Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement Disability benefits file a single combined application, Form PAS-1, which covers the Senior Freeze, ANCHOR, and Stay NJ at once.⁸ You can file online or mail the paper form to the NJ Division of Taxation.⁹ The deadline for 2025 benefits is November 2, 2026.⁷

If You’re Denied

Any property owner can appeal to the County Board of Taxation, no matter what the assessed value is. The deadline is April 1 in most counties. Burlington, Gloucester, and Monmouth counties use an alternative assessment calendar and set the deadline at January 15. A County Board decision can be appealed further to the Tax Court of New Jersey.¹⁰

1
NJ Division of Taxation. 100% Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
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NJ.gov. $250 Veterans Property Tax Deduction
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NJ.gov. $250 Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Deduction
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NJ.gov. Senior Freeze Eligibility Requirements
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NJ.gov. Stay NJ – Property Tax Relief for Senior Citizens
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NJ Division of Taxation. Stay NJ – Property Tax Relief for Senior Citizens – Calculation
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NJ.gov. Frequently Asked Questions
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New Jersey Division of Taxation. 2025 Application for Property Tax Relief, Form PAS-1 Application Instructions
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NJ.gov. Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement)
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NJ.gov. Assessment and Appeals