ANCHOR pays homeowners $1,500 or $1,000 and renters $450 or $700 for the 2025 benefit year, based on 2025 New Jersey gross income up to $250,000 for homeowners and $150,000 for renters (how the benefit is calculated).
Who qualifies for an ANCHOR rebate in NJ?Eligibility, status and filing help
New Jersey pays the ANCHOR benefit to homeowners and renters who lived in a New Jersey home as their main residence on October 1, 2025, and whose 2025 New Jersey gross income was within the limit for their track. Wasserman Accounting CPAs confirms which track you qualify for, files the ANC-1 or PAS-1, and finds out why a payment is late.
NJ ANCHOR rebate in three points
The Division filed for most eligible homeowners under 65 and most eligible renters of any age and mailed confirmation letters from August 10, 2026; first-time applicants file Form ANC-1 and senior homeowners file Form PAS-1 by November 2, 2026.
Wasserman Accounting CPAs checks your eligibility, files the application, and traces a payment that is late.
A CPA or EA confirms whether you qualify as a homeowner or renter and files the application before November 2, 2026. Call 609-281-8096 or send the contact form.
Check my ANCHOR eligibilityWhat is the NJ ANCHOR rebate?
ANCHOR (Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters) is a state property tax relief payment. It replaced the Homestead Benefit, covers renters, and pays you by check or direct deposit rather than as a credit on your property tax bill.
Each benefit year is paid one year later: the 2025 benefit year, paid from September 2026, is based on your residency, income and age in 2025.
Who qualifies for ANCHOR in New Jersey?
You qualify as a homeowner or a renter if you used a New Jersey home as your main residence on October 1, 2025, and your 2025 New Jersey gross income, line 29 of the NJ-1040, was within the cap for your track. Line 29 excludes Social Security, so those benefits do not count. The Division sets out the full eligibility requirements for both tracks.
Who qualifies as a homeowner for ANCHOR?
You qualify as a homeowner if you owned and occupied the property as your main residence on October 1, 2025, and paid property taxes on it.
The Division counts these as homes
- A condominium you own and pay property taxes on
- A co-op where you are a resident shareholder
- A continuing-care retirement community unit where your contract requires you to pay a proportionate share of the property taxes
- A home you kept as your domicile while temporarily in an assisted living facility
The homeowner benefit does not cover
- A second home or vacation home
- A home you rent out to someone else
- A property with more than four units
- A property with four units or fewer that includes more than one commercial unit
- A home fully exempt from property taxes
- A home where you made P.I.L.O.T. payments to the municipality in place of property tax
Who qualifies as a renter for ANCHOR?
You qualify as a renter if you rented and lived in the residence as your main residence on October 1, 2025, and you were named on the lease or rental agreement.
The Division counts these rentals
- A rental under a municipal P.I.L.O.T. agreement
- A rented condominium unit
- A rented co-op unit
- A mobile home in a mobile home park, whether you rent or own the mobile home
The renter benefit does not cover
- Tax-exempt housing owned by the federal government, the state, a county or a municipality
- On-campus apartments at New Jersey colleges and universities
- Housing owned by religious, charitable or other nonprofit organizations, including on-campus housing at private colleges
- Other residences exempt from local property taxes
What are the ANCHOR income limits?
Both caps are measured on 2025 New Jersey gross income, line 29 of the NJ-1040.
Homeowners
$250,000
2025 New Jersey gross income of $250,000 or less.
Renters
$150,000
2025 New Jersey gross income of $150,000 or less.
How much is the NJ ANCHOR rebate?
The amount depends on whether you owned or rented and on your 2025 income; only renters receive an age-based addition for 2025.
| Applicant type | Age in 2025 | 2025 NJ gross income | Benefit amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homeowner | Any age | $150,000 or less | $1,500 |
| Homeowner | Any age | $150,001 to $250,000 | $1,000 |
| Renter | 64 or younger | $150,000 or less | $450 |
| Renter | 65 or older | $150,000 or less | $700 |
Residents who were 65 or older by December 31, 2025, and did not claim the $50 Property Tax Credit on a New Jersey return receive it with their ANCHOR payment. Total property tax relief from all programs cannot exceed the property taxes paid on your main residence.
ANCHOR is not taxable in New Jersey; whether it is taxable federally depends on whether you deducted your property taxes in a prior year, which we check against your returns when we prepare your personal return.
Who files the PAS-1 for ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ?
Homeowners who were 65 or older by December 31, 2025, and anyone receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits file Form PAS-1 by November 2, 2026. The Division does not file it for you, and you need it to claim ANCHOR even if you qualify for nothing else. One form covers three programs.
ANCHOR
Paid from September 2026.
Senior Freeze
Reimburses property tax increases above your base year if you have owned and lived in the home since December 31, 2022, and your total income, counting Social Security, was $168,268 or less in 2024 and $172,475 or less in 2025 (full eligibility rules).
Stay NJ
For homeowners 65 or older with 2025 income of $200,000 or less, worth up to $6,500 depending on income and paid in February and May 2027.
Renters can receive ANCHOR only, and senior renters who received a confirmation letter were filed for automatically. We file the PAS-1 and tell you which of the three programs you qualify for before the Division does. The PAS-1 instructions set out what the Division asks for.
65 or older and no PAS-1 filed yet?
A CPA or EA prepares it and checks all three programs for you. Call 609-281-8096.
Who was filed for automatically, and who has to apply?
The Division filed for most eligible homeowners under 65 who do not receive disability benefits and for most eligible renters of any age, based on their prior application, and mailed ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letters from August 10, 2026. The deadline to change banking details, request a paper check or report an ineligible property was September 15, 2026; anyone who did not act is paid to the same account as last year.
You file your own application if:
No confirmation letter arrived
The Division mailed ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letters from August 10, 2026. If yours never came, nothing was filed for you.
You have never received ANCHOR
New homeowners and new New Jersey residents have no prior application for the Division to file from, so the first one is yours to make.
You are 65 or older, or on disability benefits
Homeowners in either group file Form PAS-1 themselves. The Division does not file it for you, whatever you received last year.
How do you apply for the NJ ANCHOR rebate?
First-time applicants file Form ANC-1 online at propertytaxreliefapp.nj.gov by November 2, 2026. Online filing requires ID.me identity verification; paper filing does not, and the Division publishes every form and instruction sheet as a PDF.
Have these ready
- Your 2025 New Jersey return, for the income on line 29 of the NJ-1040
- If you own, the county and municipality code, block, lot and qualifier from your property tax bill
- Your banking details, if you want direct deposit
Then, in order
- 01Confirm your track for the 2025 benefit year
- 02Complete ID.me verification
- 03File the ANC-1 online, or on paper if you cannot verify
- 04Check your status after filing and answer any request for more information
Filing on paper instead? Print the ANC-1 instructions and follow them line by line, or send them to us and we complete the form for you.
How do I check my NJ ANCHOR rebate status?
Check online
Check your NJ ANCHOR rebate status at propertytaxreliefstatus.nj.gov. If your status has not changed 90 days after filing, or the amount shown does not match the amount for your track, we find out why and respond to the Division for you.
Call the hotline
The Property Tax Relief Hotline is 1-888-238-1233. The Division also answers the common cases in its property tax relief FAQs.
When will I get my NJ ANCHOR rebate?
The Division began paying 2025 benefits on September 15, 2026, on a rolling basis, and applicants are paid within 90 days of filing unless the Division needs more information. Online filers choose direct deposit or a paper check; paper filers receive a check.
Who can file ANCHOR after a death?
For a homeowner who died on or after October 1, 2025
The executor or surviving spouse or civil union partner files and attaches the death certificate.
For a renter
The surviving spouse or civil union partner or the personal representative files, and the Division may request documents later.
The Division pays the benefit in the name of the estate, so speak to the bank or an attorney before closing the estate account. We file for the estate and handle the documentation alongside the New Jersey inheritance tax work an estate usually needs.
How Wasserman Accounting CPAs helps with the NJ ANCHOR rebate
Our ANCHOR services for New Jersey homeowners and renters:
- Confirming whether you qualify as a homeowner or renter and under which income band
- Filing Form ANC-1 for first-time applicants
- Preparing Form PAS-1 and checking Senior Freeze and Stay NJ eligibility alongside ANCHOR
- Tracing a late payment and responding to Division requests
- Filing on behalf of an estate after a death
- Checking whether the benefit is federally taxable against your prior returns
Everything else we do for New Jersey households and businesses is on the full services list, and the New Jersey CPA page covers how we work with clients across the state.
How we price ANCHOR and property tax relief filing
We quote before we start, and the fee depends on:
- 01Whether you file the ANC-1 or the PAS-1, which covers three programs
- 02Whether an estate is filing
- 03Whether a payment has to be traced or a Division request answered
- 04Whether we also prepare your New Jersey return
Call 609-281-8096 and we quote on the call.
Who we help
Homeowners and renters unsure which track they qualify for
Seniors and disability recipients who need the PAS-1 filed
First-time applicants who did not receive a confirmation letter
Executors and surviving spouses filing after a death
Anyone whose ANCHOR payment is late or short
Reviewed by
April Moore, EA, Hainesport, NJ. Enrolled Agent with 20 years in business tax preparation and quarterly regulatory filings.
Talk to a New Jersey property tax relief CPA or EA
If you are not sure you qualify, missed the September 15 change deadline, or have a payment that is late, we review your position and file what is needed before November 2, 2026.