On July 1, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a tax amnesty measure that offers relief to many taxpayers in a variety of situations and will help bridge the revenue shortfall in the state budget. It requires the Director of the Division of Taxation to establish a period not exceeding 90 days in duration which shall end no later than Jan. 15, 2019. Anyone behind on taxes owed for the time period between Feb. 1, 2009, and Sept. 1, 2017, would be eligible to participate, as long as they are not under criminal investigation.

Similar to New Jersey’s prior six amnesty initiatives, the new law provides for complete forgiveness of all penalties and one-half of the balance of accrued interest that is due as of Nov. 1, 2018, in return for non-refundable payment of the tax and remaining one-half of accrued interest due, and a waiver of the right to appeal any liability paid under amnesty.