SENATE, No. 943

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 14, 1996

 

 

By Senators SINGER, HAINES and Kosco

 

 

An Act excluding certain income of retired members of the Armed Forces of the United States from gross income subject to the gross income tax and supplementing Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. Gross income shall not include military pension payments paid to individuals by the United States with respect to service in the Armed Forces of the United States.

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 1996.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would exclude military pensions from the New Jersey gross income tax. There are approximately 23,000 military retirees living in New Jersey. They made a decision to retire here in close proximity to U.S. military bases for medical care benefits and Post Exchange privileges, as well as for camaraderie and other intangible benefits.

    These fine citizens have served their country and deserve more than having military bases close around them, leaving them in a quandry as to what to do next.

    With the enactment of this bill, New Jersey's treatment of military persons would be the same as the treatment of those persons in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. Approximately $306 million dollars of military pensions are paid annually to retirees in New Jersey. These funds contribute to the vitality of the State's economy.

 

 

 

Excludes United States military pensions from the gross income tax.