17 Oct Can I apply for back years of property tax benefits?

Q. Am I still able to apply online for previous years? I already applied for 2024.
— Homeowner

A. We’re glad to hear you got this year’s application in.

Can you apply for back years? Yes. But will you get the money? Probably not.

Unless you had something they might consider an exception — such as a hospital stay or other incapacity — it’s unlikely the state will approve a late application.

But the only way to know is to apply, be denied and then appeal with additional information to back up why you didn’t apply by the deadline.

Also know that when you look for past years’ applications, which are available on the state’s website, you might be confused because you won’t find an ANCHOR application for 2022 or 2023.

This is because when the state legislature approved the new Stay NJ program, they wanted to make all the benefit year names match.

The ANCHOR benefit year name was always behind. That’s because its past incarnation as the Homestead Benefit was twice delayed by then-Gov. Chris Christie because of funding issues. Instead of canceling those benefit years, they delayed them.

So when the 2024 benefit was renamed, the 2022 and 2023 benefit years disappeared. Are you losing money? The politicians in Trenton say no because you will still get a benefit every year that the programs are funded. And that’s the key — these benefits are approved in each year’s budget negotiations.

So will they be approved every year? We’ll be watching.

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This story was originally published in October 2025.

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