03 Apr Are Roth rollovers really considered income for Stay NJ application?

Q. I received my booklet in the mail for property tax relief and am confused about the Roth IRA rollover added as income. When mine matured I rolled the entire amount over to a bank that paid more interest. Am I reading this correctly that I have to include this as income? This doesn’t seem right.
— Retired

A. It seems wrong to us, too.

But the Treasury Department said it’s correct.

“Roth IRA rollovers are not taxable for New Jersey income tax purposes,” a spokesperson said. “However, under the amended Stay NJ Act, income for Stay NJ eligibility includes Roth IRA rollovers, as defined by its law.”

But, a rollover is not considered income for ANCHOR purposes.

“The rollover you described would be considered income for both the Stay NJ and Senior Freeze program based on the P.L. 2024, c.88,” the spokesperson said. “However, the law did not change in the income standards for the ANCHOR program. For ANCHOR, income only includes what would be counted as gross income on the New Jersey income tax return.”

Crazy, right?

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This story was originally published in April 2025.

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