Provides 50 percent sales and use tax exemption for certain businesses in impacted municipalities during ongoing public highway project.

S3708

SENATE, No. 3708

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 2, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ROBERT W. SINGER

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

Senator� VIN GOPAL

District 11 (Monmouth)

SYNOPSIS

���� Provides 50 percent sales and use tax exemption for
certain businesses in impacted municipalities during ongoing public highway
project.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
providing for a partial sales and use tax exemption for
certain businesses impacted by certain public highway projects and
supplementing Title 54 of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

���� 1.���
a. A seller that operates a retail business establishment
within an impacted municipality shall be entitled to an exemption to the extent
of 50 percent of the tax imposed under the "Sales and Use Tax Act,"
P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.), provided that the seller is approved by
the director pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

���� b.��� (1) Before or after the
commencement of a public highway project, a seller may apply to the director
for the exemption authorized under this section.� The application shall be
submitted in a form and manner prescribed by the director.� The director shall
require the seller to submit such documentation as the director deems necessary
to verify that the seller operates a retail business establishment within an
impacted municipality.

���� (2)� If the director deems
that the seller meets the conditions set forth in subsection a. of this
section, the director shall issue a written determination to the seller, which
determination shall indicate the retail business establishments to which the
exemption shall apply and the relief period during which the exemption shall
apply.

���� c.��� (1) Upon the
commencement or completion of a public highway project, the Commissioner of
Transportation shall provide written notice to the director attesting to the
commencement or completion of the project, as applicable.� Within 30 days
following the effective date of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the commissioner shall provide
written notice to the director attesting to each ongoing public highway project
within the State.

���� (2)� Within 30 days of
receiving the written notice from the commissioner concerning the completion of
a public highway project, the director shall provide written notice to each
seller for which an exemption has been authorized related to the public highway
project, which notice shall indicate that the seller's exemption under this
section is terminated, as of the date of receipt of the written notice.

���� d.��� As used in this section:

���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Transportation.

���� "Director" means the
Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.

���� "Impacted
municipality" means any municipality in which an ongoing public highway
project is located.

���� "Public highway
project" means any infrastructure project that involves the construction,
improvement, or maintenance of a State, county, or municipal highway, road,
bridge, or street, including, but not limited to, the repair or reconstruction
of any highway, road, bridge, or street that has suffered serious damage as a
result of a natural disaster or catastrophic failure from any external cause.

���� "Relief period"
means the
period of time between the date on which a
public highway project commences and the date on which the project concludes.

���� "Retail
business establishment" means a small business that maintains a fixed
permanent location where goods are exhibited or services are offered, on-site
or off-site, on an appointment or walk-in basis.� For the purposes of this
definition, offered services may include, but shall not be limited to, charter
boat services
.

���� 2.��� T
he
Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury shall adopt,
pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to implement the provisions of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill
provides for a 50 percent exemption to the sales and use
tax in impacted municipalities in which ongoing public highway projects are
located.

���� Specifically,
under the bill, a seller is entitled to an exemption to
the extent of 50 percent of the tax imposed under the Sales and Use Tax Act,
upon approval by the Director of the Division of Taxation (director), if the
seller operates a retail business establishment within an impacted municipality
during a relief period.� To be entitled to the exemption, a seller is required
to submit an application to the director to verify that the retail business
establishment operates within an impacted municipality.

���� The bill defines "retail
business establishment" as a small business that maintains a fixed
permanent location where goods are exhibited or services are offered, on-site
or off-site, on an appointment or walk-in basis.� A retail business
establishment's offered services may include, but are not limited to, charter
boat services.� "Impacted municipality" is defined as any
municipality in which an ongoing public highway project is located.� Under the
bill, a "public highway project" is any infrastructure project that
involves the construction, improvement, or maintenance of a State, county, or
municipal highway, road, bridge, or street, including, but not limited to, the
repair or reconstruction of any highway, road, bridge, or street that has
suffered serious damage as a result of a natural disaster or catastrophic
failure from any external cause.� "Relief period" means the period of
time between the date on which a public highway project commences and the date
on which the project concludes.

���� Upon the commencement or
completion of a public highway project, the bill requires the Commissioner of
Transportation (commissioner) to provide written notice to the director
attesting to the commencement or completion of the project, as applicable.� Within
30 days following the bill's effective date, the commissioner is required to
provide written notice to the director attesting to each ongoing public highway
project within the State.� Within 30 days of receiving the written notice from
the commissioner concerning the completion of a public highway project, the
bill requires the director to provide written notice to each seller for which
such an exemption has been
authorized indicating that
the seller's exemption is terminated, as of the date of receipt of the written
notice.