Window closing for NJ residents to avoid penalties on overdue state taxes

Time is running out for New Jersey residents to avoid penalties on unpaid tax bills.

The deadline to save money by paying outstanding balances for the tax periods 2005 through 2013 is Nov. 17.

“We’ve sent about 145,000 notices out so some folks have letters. We’ve given them a summary of the liability,” said Michael Bryan, director of the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

“They’ll see that on the website. They’ll decide how much and what they want to pay,” he said. “They can check some boxes, submit payment, and that wraps it up.”

Bryan says it’s not an amnesty program because participants still must pay the accumulated interest, he said.

While the program will help accelerate revenue collections, most of the taxpayers are already in the collection cycle so the state would eventually get the money anyway.

“This just gives the taxpayer an opportunity to do it at a lower cost and try to resolve things a little more easily,” Bryan said.