Establishes pilot program in Division of Taxation to provide income tax credits for the opening of certain homesteads to hunting activities in areas with high number of wildlife incidents.

A1474

ASSEMBLY, No. 1474

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANTWAN L. MCCLELLAN

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Sauickie, Inganamort and Assemblywoman Fantasia

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes pilot program in Division of Taxation to
provide income tax credits for opening of certain homesteads to hunting
activities in areas with high number of wildlife incidents.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
establishing a pilot program to provide gross income
tax credits for opening of certain homesteads to hunting activities and
supplementing chapter 4 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� a.� As used in this
section:

���� �Director� means the Director
of the Division of Taxation.

���� �Dwelling house� means any
residential property assessed as real property which consists of not more than
four units, of which not more than one may be used for commercial purposes, but
shall not include a unit in a condominium, cooperative, horizontal property
regime or mutual housing corporation.

���� �Eligible homestead� means a
dwelling house and the land on which that dwelling house is located which has
at least 10 acres of huntable property, constitutes the place of the taxpayer's
domicile, and is owned and used by the taxpayer as the taxpayer's principal
residence.� Eligible homestead shall not include a homestead with an existing
deed restriction or easement requiring public access.

���� �Principal residence� means a
homestead actually and continually occupied by a taxpayer as the taxpayer's
permanent residence, as distinguished from a vacation home, property owned and
rented or offered for rent by the taxpayer, and other secondary real property
holdings.

���� b.��� The Director of the
Division of Taxation, in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental
Protection, shall establish a five-year pilot program to allow resident
taxpayers who own eligible homesteads to apply for tax credits against the tax
otherwise due for a taxable year under the �New Jersey Gross Income Tax,�
N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq. to promote the opening of a limited number of eligible
homesteads for lawful hunting activities.� The amount of the credit shall be in
an amount equal to $1,500 for the first 10 acres of huntable property opened for
hunting, with an additional $200 credit for each additional acre of huntable
property that is opened for hunting.

���� c.���� In order to participate
in the pilot program, a taxpayer shall submit an application to the director
that contains the following information:

���� (1)�� location of the eligible
homestead;

���� (2)�� proof of the taxpayer�s
ownership of the eligible homestead and the total amount of huntable property;

���� (3)�� a map of the eligible
homestead to be opened up to hunting that identifies:

���� (a)�� the boundaries of the
homestead;

���� (b)�� how the boundaries of
the homestead are to be marked, whether through fencing, signs, painted trees,
or other similar markings; and

���� (c)�� a description of the
homestead, including the kind of terrain, principal use of the property, and
the locations of nearby highways, rivers, streams, and population centers;

���� (4)�� the types of wildlife
that can be hunted on the homestead;

���� (5)�� the maximum number of
individuals who can hunt at the homestead at any given time;

���� (6)�� any other information
the director and the commissioner deem necessary.

���� Maps supplied to the director
as part of an application shall be either printed from tax maps, or taken from
satellite images.�

���� d.��� The director, in
consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall select no
more than 12 eligible taxpayers who may claim tax credits under the pilot
program for the taxable years for which they have applied.� In selecting
taxpayers to participate in the program, the director and the commissioner
shall give preference to homesteads in areas with high incidents of:

���� (1)�� wildlife fatalities on
roadways;

���� (2)�� property damage caused
by wildlife; and

���� (3)�� injuries to local
residents as a result of a wildlife encounter.

���� As a condition of receiving
credits under the pilot program each year, a taxpayer shall be required to
permit hunting at the homestead a minimum of two days per week from 9:00 A.M.
through 5:00 P.M. and allow the hunting of wildlife in accordance with hunting
seasons prescribed by the State Fish and Game Code.

���� To the greatest extent
practicable, the director shall ensure that the taxpayers selected equally
represent the northern, central, and southern regions of the State.� The
director shall publish the names of taxpayers selected to participate in the
pilot program on the Division of Taxation�s official internet website.

���� e.���� A taxpayer selected for
the pilot program shall be allowed to claim the tax credit for any taxable year
of the five year pilot program upon annual approval thereof by the director
after submitting a completed annual tax credit application.� As part of the
annual application, the taxpayer shall be required to submit a log of each hunt
held on the eligible homestead during the taxable year containing the date and
time of the hunt, an inventory of wildlife successfully hunted and taken from
the homestead, and the signatures of the taxpayer and each individual who
participated in the hunt.�

���� f.���� On or before the first
day of the tenth month after the conclusion of the pilot program established
pursuant to this act, the director, in consultation with the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, shall submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant
to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature containing
the following information:

���� (1)�� the number of taxpayers
with eligible homesteads who applied to participate in the pilot program;

���� (2)�� the number of taxpayers
with eligible homesteads who received tax credits under the program;

���� (3)�� the total amount of tax
credits distributed to taxpayers with eligible homesteads each year;

���� (4)�� the number of
individuals licensed to hunt who received permission to hunt at the homestead
of a taxpayer along with the total number and types of wildlife taken from
participating homesteads;

���� (5)�� whether there has been a
decrease in the number of wildlife fatalities on roadways, property damage
caused by wildlife, and injuries to local residents as a result of a wildlife
encounter;

���� (6)�� recommendations as to
the ways in which the pilot program can be improved and whether the program
should be continued on a permanent basis; and

���� (7)�� any other information
the director and commissioner deem appropriate.

���� g.��� The director, in
consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall
promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the "Administrative
Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the
purposes of this section.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall apply to the first five taxable years beginning
after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes a five
year pilot program, administered by the Division of Taxation, in consultation
with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, to allow resident taxpayers
who own eligible homesteads to apply for gross income tax credits to promote
the opening of a limited number of eligible homesteads for lawful hunting
activities.� The amount of the credit would be equal to $1,500 for the first 10
acres of huntable property opened for hunting, with an additional $200 credit
for each additional acre of huntable property that is opened for hunting.

���� The bill defines an �eligible
homestead� as a dwelling house and the land on which that dwelling house is
located which is at least 10 acres of huntable property, constitutes the place
of the taxpayer's domicile, and is owned and used by the taxpayer as the
taxpayer's principal residence.� Homesteads with an existing deed restriction
or easement requiring public access would be excluded from the program.

���� In order to participate in the
pilot program, a taxpayer would be required to submit an application with the
following information:

�

location of the
eligible homestead;

�

proof of the
taxpayer�s ownership of the eligible homestead and the total amount of huntable
property;

�

a map of the
eligible homestead to be opened up to hunting that identifies: (1) the
boundaries of the homestead; (2) how the boundaries of the homestead are to be
marked, whether through fencing, signs, painted trees, or other similar
markings; and (3) a description of the homestead, including the kind of
terrain, principal use of the property, and the locations of nearby highways,
rivers, streams, and population centers;

�

the types of
wildlife that can be hunted on the homestead;

�

the maximum
number of individuals who can hunt at the homestead at any given time;

�

recommendations
as to the ways the pilot program can be improved and whether the program should
be continued on a permanent basis; and

�

any other
information the director and the commissioner deem necessary.

���� The director, in consultation
with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, would then be required to
select no more than 12 eligible taxpayers who may claim tax credits under the
pilot program.� In selecting taxpayers to participate in the program, the
director and the commissioner preference would be given to homesteads in areas
with high incidents of wildlife fatalities on roadways, property damage caused
by wildlife, and injuries to local residents as a result of a wildlife
encounter.� As a condition of receiving credits under the pilot program each year,
a taxpayer would be required to permit hunting at the homestead a minimum of
two days per week from 9:00 A.M. through 5:00 P.M. and allow the hunting of
wildlife in accordance with hunting seasons prescribed by the State Fish and
Game Code.

���� A taxpayer selected for the
program would be allowed to claim the tax credit for any taxable year of the
program upon approval of an annual tax credit application each year.� As part
of the annual application, the taxpayer would submit a log of each hunt held on
the eligible homestead during the taxable year containing the date and time of
the hunt, an inventory of wildlife successfully hunted and taken from the
homestead, and the signatures of the taxpayer and each individual who
participated in the hunt. �

���� On or before the first day of
the tenth month after the conclusion of the pilot program, the director, in
consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, would be
required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the
administration of the program, along with recommendations as to the ways the
pilot program can be improved and whether the program should be continued on a
permanent basis.