NJ Income Tax - Filing Status
When you file your New Jersey income tax return, your filing status and taxable income determine the amount of tax you will pay. In general, New Jersey follows the Federal guidelines for determining your filing status. If you file a Federal income tax return, in most cases you must use the same filing status on your New Jersey return, unless you are a partner in a civil union. If you are not required to file a Federal return, use the same filing status on your New Jersey return that you would have used if you had filed a Federal return.
The Civil Union Act (P.L. 2006, c.103) established civil unions in New Jersey for couples of the same sex. Effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2007, partners in a civil union recognized under New Jersey law must file their New Jersey income tax returns using the same filing statuses accorded spouses under New Jersey Gross Income Tax Law. Partners in a civil union may not use the filing status single even though they do so for Federal purposes.
There are five filing statuses listed on the New Jersey income tax return but you may use only one.
Single. Your filing status is single if you are unmarried or not a partner in a civil union (or legally separated from your spouse/civil union partner under decree of divorce/dissolution) on the last day of the tax year, and you do not qualify for head of household or qualifying widow(er)/surviving civil union partner status.
Married/Civil Union Couples. If you are married or in a civil union on the last day of the tax year, you and your spouse/civil union partner may choose to file as married/CU couple, filing a joint return, or married/CU partner, filing a separate return. You may use the “joint” or “separate” statuses only if you were married or in a civil union on the last day of the tax year. If you were a member of a domestic partnership registered in New Jersey, you are not considered "married" and you may not use these filing statuses.
Head of Household. You may use the filing status head of household if you are unmarried or not a partner in a civil union on the last day of the year and pay more than one-half of the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and at least one dependent. Certain married individuals/civil union partners living apart may file as head of household for New Jersey if they meet the requirements to file as head of household for Federal purposes.
You may also qualify to file as head of household if you are no longer eligible to file as qualifying widow(er)/surviving CU partner and you have not remarried or entered into a new civil union.
Qualifying Widow(er)/Surviving Civil Union Partner. If your spouse/civil union partner died during the year, you may file a joint return for the two of you provided you did not remarry or enter into a new civil union before the end of the year. You may be eligible to use the filing status qualifying widow(er)/surviving civil union partner for each of the two tax years after the year in which your spouse/CU partner died if you pay more than one-half of the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and at least one child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child who qualifies as your dependent.
Remember to follow Federal guidelines for determining your filing status and use the same filing status that you used or would have used on your Federal return, unless you are a partner in a civil union.
Additional information on filing status is contained in Tax Topic Bulletin GIT-4, Filing Status. Publication GIT-4 can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. PDF formatted documents contain the same text as the original printed documents. To view them you must have a PDF viewer which is available free from Adobe. Click the link to download the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat viewer from the Adobe Web site.
The Civil Union Act (P.L. 2006, c.103) established civil unions in New Jersey for couples of the same sex. Effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2007, partners in a civil union recognized under New Jersey law must file their New Jersey income tax returns using the same filing statuses accorded spouses under New Jersey Gross Income Tax Law. Partners in a civil union may not use the filing status single even though they do so for Federal purposes.
There are five filing statuses listed on the New Jersey income tax return but you may use only one.
Single. Your filing status is single if you are unmarried or not a partner in a civil union (or legally separated from your spouse/civil union partner under decree of divorce/dissolution) on the last day of the tax year, and you do not qualify for head of household or qualifying widow(er)/surviving civil union partner status.
Married/Civil Union Couples. If you are married or in a civil union on the last day of the tax year, you and your spouse/civil union partner may choose to file as married/CU couple, filing a joint return, or married/CU partner, filing a separate return. You may use the “joint” or “separate” statuses only if you were married or in a civil union on the last day of the tax year. If you were a member of a domestic partnership registered in New Jersey, you are not considered "married" and you may not use these filing statuses.
Head of Household. You may use the filing status head of household if you are unmarried or not a partner in a civil union on the last day of the year and pay more than one-half of the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and at least one dependent. Certain married individuals/civil union partners living apart may file as head of household for New Jersey if they meet the requirements to file as head of household for Federal purposes.
You may also qualify to file as head of household if you are no longer eligible to file as qualifying widow(er)/surviving CU partner and you have not remarried or entered into a new civil union.
Qualifying Widow(er)/Surviving Civil Union Partner. If your spouse/civil union partner died during the year, you may file a joint return for the two of you provided you did not remarry or enter into a new civil union before the end of the year. You may be eligible to use the filing status qualifying widow(er)/surviving civil union partner for each of the two tax years after the year in which your spouse/CU partner died if you pay more than one-half of the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and at least one child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child who qualifies as your dependent.
Remember to follow Federal guidelines for determining your filing status and use the same filing status that you used or would have used on your Federal return, unless you are a partner in a civil union.
Additional information on filing status is contained in Tax Topic Bulletin GIT-4, Filing Status. Publication GIT-4 can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. PDF formatted documents contain the same text as the original printed documents. To view them you must have a PDF viewer which is available free from Adobe. Click the link to download the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat viewer from the Adobe Web site.
