New Jersey residents who still need to apply for 2025 property tax relief face a Monday, November 2 deadline. Before filing, check whether the state has already submitted an ANCHOR application for you. The answer differs for older homeowners and renters.
The deadline covers ANCHOR and the combined PAS-1 application used for Senior Freeze and Stay NJ. Filing one application does not establish eligibility for every program. The state determines which benefits an applicant qualifies for.
Who still needs to file
Under the Division of Taxation's current filing rules, homeowners age 65 or older and those receiving Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement Disability benefits must submit PAS-1 themselves. The state does not automatically file that form for them.
Most eligible homeowners under 65 who do not receive those disability benefits were automatically filed using their previous application. Confirmation letters were sent August 10. Residents who did not receive a confirmation can file their own application.
Renters have a different rule. Most eligible renters were automatically filed, including renters age 65 or older and those receiving the specified disability benefits. A renter without a confirmation letter can apply independently. Age alone therefore does not tell a renter whether another filing is needed.
ANCHOR's New Jersey gross income ceiling is $250,000 for homeowners and $150,000 for renters. Those are program limits, not assurances that every household below them qualifies.
Three programs with different requirements
Senior Freeze reimburses qualifying increases in property taxes or mobile home park site fees on a main residence. Its current eligibility rules require qualifying age or disability status, ownership and residence conditions, and income within the limits for both relevant years: $168,268 for 2024 and $172,475 for 2025. A main home generally must have been owned and occupied since December 31, 2022, or earlier, through December 31, 2025.
Stay NJ's current page, updated October 20, sets a $200,000 income ceiling for the 2025 tax-year application. Older forms still refer to $500,000, so that figure should not be used as the current Stay NJ limit.
Stay NJ requires age 65 or older during 2025 and ownership and occupancy for all 12 months of that year. Renters and mobile home owners are excluded. Published annualized maximums are $6,500 for income up to $100,000, $5,000 through $150,000, and $4,000 through $200,000. Those annualized figures assume no changes in the fiscal 2028 budget. They are not a promise of an immediate payment.
Filing and getting help Monday
The PAS-1 instructions allow online or paper applications. Paper applications postmarked by November 2 count as timely. The booklet specifies 11:59 p.m. November 2 for online submissions but does not label a time zone beside that cutoff. Submit earlier rather than relying on a last-minute conversion.
The state offers filing assistance Monday from 4:30 to 8 p.m. at 3 John Fitch Way, first floor, in Trenton. Galloway, Freehold, Fair Lawn and Cranford locations also remain open until 8 p.m. that day.
For PAS-1 help, the official event checklist asks applicants to have photo identification, their Social Security number, address and property identifiers, all 2024 and 2025 income documentation, and total billed property taxes for both years. It lists NJ-1040, 1099-R and 1099-SSA forms among the income records. Under-65 applicants who do not collect Social Security disability benefits are told to bring government photo ID.
Kiplinger's ANCHOR reporting also distinguishes the application deadline from payment timing. Filing Monday does not mean receiving money Monday. New Jersey says most ANCHOR applicants receive payment within 90 days unless more information is required; applicants can check their individual benefit details through the state's status service linked from its program pages.
