Bill Text: NJ S2305 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides spouses of military servicemembers with gross income tax credit, up to $500, for professional relicensing fees incurred upon relocating to State.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-25 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [S2305 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2305-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Provides spouses of military servicemembers with gross income tax credit, up to $500, for professional relicensing fees incurred upon relocating to State.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing the spouses of certain military servicemembers with a gross income tax credit towards certain qualified professional relicensing fees, supplementing chapter 4 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A taxpayer who is an eligible spouse shall be allowed a credit against the tax otherwise due for the taxable year under the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., in the amount, not to exceed $500, of qualified relicensing fees incurred by the taxpayer in the taxable year.
b. As used in this section:
"Eligible spouse" means a person who, at the time the qualified relicensing fees are incurred, is married to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and relocates to the State pursuant to a permanent change of station order.
"Qualified relicensing fees" means the fees incurred by an eligible spouse that are for a license or certification required by the State to engage in a profession:
(1) for which the State requires a professional or occupational license or certification; and
(2) that the eligible spouse practiced prior to relocating to the State;
provided, however, that such fees are incurred during the period beginning on the date that the permanent change of station order is issued and ending on the first day of the thirteenth month next following the reporting date as specified in such order.
c. The order of priority of the application of the credit allowed pursuant to this section, and any other credits allowed against the tax imposed pursuant to the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., for a taxable year, shall be as prescribed by the director. If the amount of the credit allowed pursuant to this section exceeds the amount of tax otherwise due, that amount of excess shall be an overpayment for the purposes of N.J.S.54A:9-7, though subsection (f) of that section shall not apply.
d. The director shall promulgate procedures and forms by which a taxpayer may certify that the taxpayer qualifies for a credit pursuant to this section.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately and apply to qualified relicensing costs incurred on or
after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides a gross income tax credit, up to $500, for spouses of certain military servicemembers who incur professional relicensing fees upon relocating to the State.
Specifically, an eligible spouse of a servicemember who moves to the State due to military orders is eligible to receive a refundable gross income tax credit in the amount of qualified relicensing fees incurred due to the relocation, not to exceed $500. The term "eligible spouse" is defined to mean a person who, at the time the fees are incurred, is married to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and relocates to the State pursuant to a permanent change of station order. The term "qualified relicensing fees" is defined to mean the fees incurred by the spouse that are for a license or certification required by the State to engage in a profession: (1) for which the State requires a professional or occupational license or certification; and (2) that the eligible spouse practiced prior to moving to the State. However, this credit only covers: (1) the relicensing fees incurred beginning on the date that the permanent change of station order is issued; and (2) ending on the first day of the thirteenth month next following the reporting date in the permanent change of station order. The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury is required to issue forms and procedures that enable a taxpayer to verify that he or she qualifies for a credit per this bill.
Spouses of servicemembers are required to uproot their lives and move to another State (or country), sometimes frequently, based on military orders. In doing so, these individuals incur costs associated with rebuilding their professional careers in the State. This bill serves dual purposes of easing the burdens placed on military families and helping professionals develop their careers in the State.
