Relates to denials of increased utility rates and charges

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jonathan Jacobson

Exempts honorably discharged veterans with gross income up to $50,000 from New Jersey gross income tax.

REFERRED TO ENERGY

Summary of Bill A 2740 (Introduced Version)

Note on title vs. content: The bill’s title mentions “Relates to denials of increased utility rates and charges,” but the introduced text provided for A 2740 actually establishes a gross income tax exemption for certain veterans. This summary reflects the introduced version text that creates the veteran tax exemption.

Overview

Purpose: To exempt certain U.S. military veterans from New Jersey gross income tax.

Scope: Applies to veterans who are honorably discharged and have gross income of $50,000 or less.

Effective date: Immediate enactment with applicability to taxable years beginning on or after January 1 following enactment.

Key Provisions

Tax Exemption (introduced version)

Section 1(a): Overrides other provisions of the New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act to exempt a qualifying veteran from gross income tax.
Section 1(b): Eligibility requirements:
- (1) The veteran must be honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, a reserve component, or the National Guard of New Jersey in a federal active duty status.
- (2) The veteran must have gross income of $50,000 or less, regardless of filing status.

Effective Date

Section 2: The act takes effect immediately and applies to taxable years beginning on or after January 1 next following the date of enactment.

Eligibility and Beneficiaries

Eligible individuals:

Veterans with honorable discharge/status from active duty (U.S. Armed Forces, reserve components, or National Guard of New Jersey in federal active duty status).
Gross income of $50,000 or less.

Not eligible (based on text): Veterans whose gross income exceeds $50,000; those not meeting the honorable discharge criteria.

Legislative and Procedural Details

Introduced: January 9, 2024

Current Status: Referred to ENERGY (as of January 22, 2025); originally referred to the Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee.

Sponsor: Jonathan Jacobson (primary).

Related/Companion Bills: S 868 (companion); S 8491 (companion) — indicating cross-chamber alignment with similar provisions.

Legislative actions timeline:

2024-01-09: Introduced in the Assembly; referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee.
2025-01-22: Referred to ENERGY (listed twice in the provided record).

Potential Impact

Individual impact: Qualifying veterans would see a complete exemption from New Jersey gross income tax on up to $50,000 of gross income. This represents a targeted tax relief measure for lower-to-moderate income veterans.

Fiscal impact: The state would forgo tax revenue on the exempted portion for eligible veterans. The magnitude depends on the number of qualifying filers and their income within the $50,000 threshold.

Administrative impact: Likely minimal beyond standard compliance, as eligibility relies on veterans’ discharge status and gross income thresholds.

Notes

The bill text provided focuses solely on a veteran tax exemption and does not address utility rate denials or charges, despite the stated bill title. If examining the bill for policy or lobbying purposes, verify the bill’s current version in the official legislative database for any title corrections or amendments.

If you’d like, I can compare this with the companion Senate bills (S 868 and S 8491) or provide a brief fiscal note estimate based on typical NJ tax structure.