Bill Text: NJ S3150 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits disclosure of certain State taxpayer information to certain municipalities that administer employer payroll tax.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-06 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S3150 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S3150-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator RAJ MUKHERJI
District 32 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Permits disclosure of certain State taxpayer information to certain municipalities that administer employer payroll tax.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the disclosure of certain State tax return information to municipalities that administer employer payroll tax and amending R.S.54:50-9.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.54:50-9 is amended to read as follows:
54:50-9. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent:
a. The delivery to a taxpayer or the taxpayer's duly authorized representative of a copy of any report or any other paper filed by the taxpayer pursuant to the provisions of this subtitle or of any such State tax law;
b. The publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of a particular report and the items thereof;
c. The director, in the director's discretion and subject to reasonable conditions imposed by the director, from disclosing the name and address of any licensee under any State tax law, unless expressly prohibited by such State tax law;
d. The inspection by the Attorney General or other legal representative of this State of the reports or files relating to the claim of any taxpayer who shall bring an action to review or set aside any tax imposed under any State tax law or against whom an action or proceeding has been instituted in accordance with the provisions thereof;
e. The examination of said records and files by the Comptroller, State Auditor or State Commissioner of Finance, or by their respective duly authorized agents;
f. The furnishing, at the discretion of the director, of any information contained in tax reports or returns or any audit thereof or the report of any investigation made with respect thereto, filed pursuant to the tax laws, to the taxing officials of any other state, the District of Columbia, the United States and the territories thereof, providing said jurisdictions grant like privileges to this State and providing such information is to be used for tax purposes only;
g. The furnishing, at the discretion of the director, of any material information disclosed by the records or files to any law enforcing authority of this State who shall be charged with the investigation or prosecution of any violation of the criminal provisions of this subtitle or of any State tax law;
h. The furnishing by the director to the State agency responsible for administering the Child Support Enforcement program pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, Pub.L.93-647 (42 U.S.C. s.651 et seq.), with the names, home addresses, social security numbers and sources of income and assets of all absent parents who are certified by that agency as being required to pay child support, upon request by the State agency and pursuant to procedures and in a form prescribed by the director;
i. The furnishing by the director to the Board of Public Utilities any information contained in tax information statements, reports or returns or any audit thereof or a report of any investigation made with respect thereto, as may be necessary for the administration of P.L.1991, c.184 (C.54:30A-18.6 et al.) and P.L.1997, c.162 (C.54:10A-5.25 et al.);
j. The furnishing by the director to the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the Department of Law and Public Safety any information contained in tax information statements, reports or returns or any audit thereof or a report of any investigation made with respect thereto, as may be relevant, in the discretion of the director, in any proceeding conducted for the issuance, suspension or revocation of any license authorized pursuant to Title 33 of the Revised Statutes;
k. The inspection by the Attorney General or other legal representative of this State of the reports or files of any tobacco product manufacturer, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-2), for any period in which that tobacco product manufacturer was not or is not in compliance with subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-3), or of any licensed distributor as defined in section 102 of P.L.1948, c.65 (C.54:40A-2), for the purpose of facilitating the administration of the provisions of P.L.1999, c.148 (C.52:4D-1 et seq.);
l. The furnishing, at the discretion of the director, of information as to whether a contractor or subcontractor holds a valid business registration as defined in section 1 of P.L.2001, c.134 (C.52:32-44);
m. The furnishing by the director to a State agency as defined in section 1 of P.L.1995, c.158 (C.54:50-24) the names of licensees subject to suspension for non-payment of State tax indebtedness pursuant to P.L.2004, c.58 (C.54:50-26.1 et al.);
n. The release to the United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Financial Management Service, or its successor of relevant taxpayer information for purposes of implementing a reciprocal collection and offset of indebtedness agreement entered into between the State of New Jersey and the federal government pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2006, c.32 (C.54:49-12.7);
o. The examination of said records and files by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, the Commissioner of Human Services, the Medicaid Inspector General, or their respective duly authorized agents, pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2007, c.217 (C.26:2H-18.60e), section 3 of P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-3), or section 5 of P.L.2005, c.156 (C.30:4J-12);
p. The furnishing [at the discretion of the director] of employer-provided wage and tax withholding information contained in tax reports or returns filed pursuant to N.J.S.54A:7-2, 54A:7-4 and 54A:7-7, or such other tax return information as may be necessary, to the designated municipal officer of a municipality authorized to impose an employer payroll tax pursuant to the provisions of Article 5 (Employer Payroll Tax) of the "Local Tax Authorization Act," P.L.1970, c.326 (C.40:48C-14 et seq.), for the following limited [purpose of] purposes: (1) verifying the payroll information reported by employers subject to the employer payroll tax; and (2) identifying each employer in the municipality that is subject to the employer payroll tax, and which did not report payroll information for a preceding calendar quarter;
q. The furnishing by the director to the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development of any information, including, but not limited to, tax information statements, reports, audit files, returns, or reports of any investigation for the purpose of labor market research or assisting in investigations pursuant to any State wage, benefit or tax law as enumerated in section 1 of P.L.2009, c.194 (C.34:1A-1.11); or pursuant to P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.).
r. The furnishing by the director to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority any information contained in tax information statements, reports or returns, or any audit thereof or a report of any investigation made with respect thereto, as may be relevant to assist the authority in the implementation of programs through which grants, loans, tax credits, or other forms of financial assistance are provided. The director shall provide to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, upon request, such information.
s. The furnishing by the director to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance of any information, including, but not limited to, tax information statements, reports, audit files, returns, or reports of any investigation for the purpose of assisting in investigations pursuant to any insurance fraud investigation as enumerated in P.L.1983, c.320 (C.17:33A-1 et seq.).
t. The furnishing by the director to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance or the Commissioner of Human Services of any information contained in tax reports or returns for the purpose of determining a taxpayer's eligibility for insurance affordability assistance, the State Medicaid program, or the NJ FamilyCare Program and to otherwise support minimum essential coverage outreach and enrollment efforts.
(cf: P.L.2022, c.39, s.10)
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill concerns the disclosure of State tax return information to municipalities that administer an employer payroll tax pursuant to the "Local Tax Authorization Act," P.L.1970, c.326 (C.40:48C-1 et seq.).
Under the "Local Tax Authorization Act," a municipality with a population in excess of 200,000 residents is authorized to enact an ordinance imposing an employer payroll tax on certain employers operating within the municipality. Currently, only the cities of Newark and Jersey City have populations in excess of 200,000 residents and both have adopted an ordinance to impose an employer payroll tax. A municipality that imposes an employer payroll tax pursuant to the "Local Tax Authorization Act" is permitted to tax, at a rate of up to one percent, an amount equal to the total remuneration paid by employers to employees for certain services if those services are performed within the municipality or those services are performed outside the municipality and the place from which the services are supervised is within the municipality.
Under current law, the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury is generally prohibited from disclosing State tax return information, except as otherwise permitted in statute. Currently, the director, at their discretion, is authorized to furnish certain State tax return information to a municipality authorized to impose an employer payroll tax under the "Local Tax Authorization Act." This disclosure of information is limited to employer-provided wage and tax withholding information contained in tax reports or returns filed under the New Jersey gross income tax, and the municipality may only use this information to verify the payroll information reported by employers subject to the employer payroll tax to an eligible municipality.
The bill would expand the scope of State tax return information that may be disclosed to a municipality that administers an employer payroll tax. Specifically, the bill provides that the municipality may authorize the furnishing of wage and tax withholding information, or such other State tax return information as may be necessary, for the two following purposes: (1) verifying the payroll information reported by employers subject to the employer payroll tax; and (2) identifying each employer operating within the municipality that is subject to the employer payroll tax, and which did not report payroll information for a preceding calendar quarter. This would enable an eligible municipality to certify that information in the municipality's employer database is consistent with the information employers submit to the Division of Taxation. The bill also removes the provision of current law that provided that this disclosure of information would be subject to the discretion of the Director of the Division of Taxation.
