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February 20, 2025Tired of Commuting from New Jersey to Your New York Employer? New Jersey’s NJ RISE Program May Eliminate Commute for Some NJ Employees
By: Ty Hyderally, Esq, Francine Foner, Esq.
February 3, 2025
On January 21, 2025, Governor Phil Murphy issued a press release announcing the promotion by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) of a new program, the New Jersey Re-assigning In-State Employees Program (NJ RISE), “to promote incentives designed to encourage New York-based companies with New Jersey employees to open New Jersey offices or allow those employees to work from home.”
NJ RISE, administered by the NJDEA, will provide grants to eligible New York businesses who re-assign employees who live in New Jersey to a New Jersey location, or allow them to work from home. According to the press release, eligible companies could receive up to $500,000. The goal of the program is to allow New Jersey residents to work closer to home, shortening their commute, or work remotely from home, and return New Jerseyan’s tax revenue to New Jersey by issuing an incentive based upon the employees’ withholdings.
The Governor’s announcement advises that this pilot program is funded with $20 million and will provide eligible employers with a grant equal to the amount of the New Jersey Gross Income Tax withholdings of the re-assigned resident employees during one tax year of the business, not to exceed $500,000 in the aggregate per business.
To be eligible, the business:
- must be principally located in another state that uses Convenience of the Employer Income Taxation Rule, such as New York, Delaware, and Nebraska;
- must have 25+ domestic full-time employees;
- must be in good standing with the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD) and NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); and
- must provide a current tax clearance certificate, which must be maintained through disbursement to demonstrate the applicant is properly registered to do business in NJ and in substantially good standing with the NJ Division of Taxation.
Discussing his goals for the program, Governor Murphy stated, “From the beginning, I vowed to fight congestion pricing, because New York should not balance its budget on the backs of New Jersey families. Back in 2023, I signed legislation establishing a grant program that would incentivize businesses in states like New York to reassign their New Jersey resident employees to work in our state. This would not only cut down on costs and travel time for commuters, but would keep their tax dollars in New Jersey. Our fight against congestion pricing isn’t over and we won’t allow another state to line its coffers with our hard-earned money.”
The program is being marketed through billboards on major highways and bridges traveled by employees commuting between New Jersey to New York, as well as through taxi top banners, digital and social media ads and transit posters.
NJ RISE is welcome news for New Jersey employees who commute to New York for work, as eligible New York employers will hopefully take advantage of the incentives offered by NJ RISE, saving some New Jersey employees significant cost and time commuting to and from New York.
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