Bill Text: NJ S2717 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides gross income tax deduction for home office expenses incurred during COVID-19 pandemic.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-15 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S2717 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2717-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Provides gross income tax deduction for home office expenses incurred during COVID-19 pandemic.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing a gross income tax deduction for home office expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A taxpayer, who is either self-employed, an independent contractor, or an employee, shall be allowed to deduct from the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year the expenses incurred by the utilization of the taxpayer's home as a principal place of business during the COVID-19 public health emergency as declared by the Governor in Executive Order No. 103 of 2020 and any extension thereof.
b. As used in this section:
"Principal place of business" means the part of a home used primarily to conduct business for an employer, personal business, or trade on a regular basis. A home office qualifies as a principal place of business if there are no other fixed locations where the taxpayer can conduct business or if the taxpayer spends a significant amount of time conducting business exclusively from their home office, even if on occasion having the ability to work at another location, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Expenses" means unreimbursed supplies and equipment, necessary to conduct business from a home office including a desk, computer, cell phone, printer, paper, and other necessary equipment and supplies.
c. The director is authorized to issue rules and regulations necessary to implement this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply retroactively to taxable years during which the Public Health Emergency and the State of Emergency declared by the Governor in Executive Order No. 103 of 2020 and any extension thereof concerning the COVID-19 pandemic are ongoing.
STATEMENT
This bill provides a gross income tax deduction to an eligible taxpayer classified as self-employed, an independent contractor, or an employee. The taxpayer will be allowed to deduct home office expenses incurred by the utilization of the taxpayer's home as a principal place of business during the COVID-19 public health emergency as declared by the Governor of the State of New Jersey through Executive Order No. 103 of 2020. This bill will apply to the period of time following the Governor's Executive Order until the Governor determines that an emergency no longer exists.
The bill defines a "principal place of business" as a part of a home used primarily to conduct business due to the lack of a readily available fixed location. A taxpayer may deem their home office as a "principal place of business" if they spent a significant amount of time conducting business from their home office, even if another fixed location is available to them on occasion, such as an office provided by an employer to the taxpayer which can only be accessed on a limited basis. The taxpayer will be allowed to deduct expenses incurred by the operation of a home office. The bill defines "expenses" as self-purchased supplies and equipment, including those unreimbursed by a taxpayer's employer, necessary to operate a home office.
