New Jersey’s property-tax relief application is due November 2, 2026, and one form, the PAS-1, covers three programs: Senior Freeze, ANCHOR and Stay NJ. The state Division of Taxation says on its property tax relief page that “the deadline to apply for the 2025 application is November 2, 2026.”

For seniors the single application is the point. The Division says senior homeowners, and people receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, must complete the combined PAS-1 even if they do not qualify for all three programs. The state will not file it for them.

That answers the first question most older New Jersey homeowners have: have I filed, and which of the three programs am I eligible for? Anyone who has not filed the PAS-1 for 2025 has to do it themselves by November 2, either online or on paper. Eligibility is set separately for each program, and the form decides which of them apply. ANCHOR is a wider program than the other two: the Division automatically filed ANCHOR applications for most eligible homeowners under 65 and most eligible renters of all ages, and anyone who did not get an ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letter can file on their own by the same date.

With the PAS-1 due November 2, a homeowner 65 or older has three weeks to file before the 2025 application closes. The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit includes an application log and renewal calendar, so the filing date, the confirmation and next year’s renewal are written down.

Keep the PAS-1 filing date in the Relief Kit’s application log before November 2 →

The three programs on one form

The Division’s relief page says the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget provides benefits through three programs:

• Senior Freeze, formally the Property Tax Reimbursement program.
• ANCHOR.
• The Stay NJ Property Tax Credit Program.

The relief page names the programs and links to each one, but it does not describe the Stay NJ eligibility rules or give benefit amounts, so no dollar figure is stated here for Stay NJ. The ANCHOR page is the state’s own description of that program.

Who has to file, and who may already have

Two groups sit on opposite sides of the line. Senior homeowners and people on Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability must file the PAS-1 themselves, because the Division does not file it automatically for them. Most eligible homeowners under 65 and most eligible renters, by contrast, already had an ANCHOR application filed for them, and the ones who got an ANCHOR Benefit Confirmation Letter have nothing further to do for that program.

A household with both an older homeowner and a younger renter in the family should treat the two cases separately. The letter, or the lack of one, is the clue the Division gives for whether a personal filing is still needed.

Senior Freeze income limits

The Senior Freeze has its own tests. According to the Division’s eligibility page, the applicant must have been 65 or older during 2025 and must have owned and lived in the home for all twelve months. Income has to be $172,475 or less for 2025 and $168,268 or less for 2024. Applicants 65 or older are asked for both years’ figures.

What to have ready before filing

The online application is at propertytaxreliefapp.nj.gov, reached through the “File Now” link. Filers verify their identity through ID.me, so a driver’s license, state ID, passport card or passport should be at hand, and the state says additional documents may be required.

For applicants 65 or older, or those receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, the Division lists:

• Property details for 2024 and 2025: county and municipality code, block, lot and qualifier, and the tax amounts.
• Gross income from the 2024 and 2025 NJ-1040.
• Proof of Social Security or SSI income, which the page suggests getting from a my Social Security account.

Applicants under 65 who do not receive those disability benefits need 2025 property details and gross income from the 2025 NJ-1040.

Filing the PAS-1 before November 2

The free route is the state’s own page, nj.gov/treasury/taxation/relief.shtml, which links to the online application and the paper form. Start by pulling the two NJ-1040 returns, the property tax bills for 2024 and 2025, and the Social Security statement showing income. The block, lot and qualifier should be copied exactly from the tax bill.

Anyone who needs to talk to the Division should know that the relief page lists no phone number. It links instead to a page to schedule a telephone appointment, so calling for an appointment now leaves room before the deadline. Whoever files should save the confirmation after submitting. Because the identity check runs through ID.me, it is sensible to start that step well before the last weekend, in case a document has to be found or an extra proof is requested.

Then compare the Senior Freeze income limits of $172,475 for 2025 and $168,268 for 2024 against the household’s own figures from the NJ-1040s, so there are no surprises about which programs apply. The form handles each program’s own tests, but knowing the numbers first helps in reading the result.

Three New Jersey programs, one November 2 date

The PAS-1 settles three programs by November 2, but property-tax relief takes other forms too. The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit explains the 5 kinds of property-tax relief and the circuit-breaker credit that includes renters.

See the circuit-breaker credit for renters in the Relief Kit alongside the PAS-1 →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.