19 New New Jersey Laws In 2019 That Could Change Your Life

TRENTON —As 2019 begins, there are a bunch of new laws now on the books in New Jersey that could change your life. And they could impact your pocketbook in a variety of ways.

Here's a look at 19 new laws now in effect in New Jersey:

Beach smoking ban

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that bans smoking at all beaches and parks and on boardwalks beginning on Jan. 16.

The law will charge violators a $250 fine for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense, according to the legislation.

The smoking ban will not include beach parking lots and it would allow municipalities to designate up to 15 percent of a beach for permitted smoking, according to the legislation.

"This is tremendous day," Murphy said as he declared it an effort to "get the butts off the beach."

"We're not just taking action on a critical health issue in our state, but also a critical environmental issue. Murphy said, noting a sweep last year found 29,000 cigarette butts along New Jersey beaches.

Minimim Wage Rising

New Jersey's minimum wage will rise to $8.85 an hour on Tuesday. The increase comes after Murphy and state lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The wage hike is 25 cents. The rate is adjusted each fall based on the consumer price index data.

Uber/Lyft Taxes

This bill imposes a 50-cent tax on solo trips and 25 cents on shared rides. The original bill would have imposed a 20-cent tax, but budget negotiations over the weekend led to the increase.

The bill said money collected from the fee is to be deposited in the Property Tax Relief Fund and be used as aid to school districts.

Airbnb Taxes

The bill (A-1753) will impose the same taxes and fees that hotels and motels currently must pay to the state on "transient accommodations," or residences used as temporary lodging.

The bill would impose the state sales and use tax, and the hotel and motel occupancy fee on these rentals and authorize municipalities to impose the following taxes and fees where applicable: the hotel occupancy fee, the Atlantic City luxury tax, the Atlantic City promotion fee, the Cape May County tourism sales tax, the Cape May County tourism assessment, the municipal occupancy tax, the sports and entertainment facility tax and the Meadowlands regional hotel use assessment.

Under the bill, permanent residential rentals would continue to be exempt from the taxes and fees listed above. The bill also would exempt charitable, non-profit organizations from collecting the taxes and fees when providing transient accommodations in furtherance of the non-profit's mission.

"Our laws need to be updated to keep up with changes brought about by new technology," said Annette Quijano, D-Union. "The fact that taxes are not paid for stays at locations rented through sites like Airbnb but are applied to stays in hotels is an unfair advantage that hurts the hospitality industry and takes funding away from municipalities for important programs. This bill levels the playing field and provides tax fairness for the entire hospitality industry in New Jersey."

"We can't allow rules to apply to one business but not another when they essentially provide the same service," said Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen. "Accommodations booked through sites like Airbnb are used like hotel rooms. They should be subject to the same obligation."

Internet

The Senate approved legislation that helps "restore tax fairness" for New Jersey businesses which have been operating at a competitive disadvantage as out-of-state online sellers have effectively avoided collecting sales taxes, lawmakers say.

The bill, S-2794, will follow through on a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that will close a loophole that has allowed online competitors to ignore required sales taxes in states where they don't have a physical presence, lawmakers said.

"This will help restore competitive balance for the retail stores in New Jersey and for the online businesses located here," said Senate President Steve Sweeney. "It will also produce more ongoing and sustained revenue for the state at a time when it is needed. We can reasonably expect an annual increase of more than $100 million a year."

The General Accounting Office – the independent, non-partisan federal financial accounting agency – estimates that New Jersey will generate $216 million to $351 million in annual tax collections.

E-cigs

This bill, A-4132/S-2731, imposes 10-cent per fluid milliliter tax related to sales of liquid nicotine.

Electronic cigarettes and similar tobacco-substitute smoking devices are designed to deliver liquid nicotine to users of the product, according to the legislation. The term "liquid nicotine" is defined in the bill to mean any solution containing nicotine that is designed or sold for use with an electronic smoking device.

The tax is imposed on the sale, use, or distribution of liquid nicotine within New Jersey by a distributor or wholesaler to a retailer dealer or consumer.

Corporate business tax hike

A corporate business tax surcharge was approved that averages 2 percent over 4 years.

For the first 2 years the surcharge is 2.5 percent, which will provide $425 million. The third and fourth year will be 1.5 percent.

Reinstatement of Expired Urban Enterprise Zones

This law reinstates Urban Enterprise Zones until December 31, 2023, and extends the expiration deadline on all UEZs scheduled to expire to December 31, 2023.

The exemption allows businesses to charge half the state sales tax rate on exempt sales. The current sales tax rate in UEZs is 3.3125 percent.

Murphy signed the bill to reinstate five expired Urban Enterprise Zones. If your business is located in one of these zones, you may file an application to establish qualified business status: Bridgeton, Camden, Newark, Plainfield and Trenton.

The law also extends the duration of all UEZs expiring before December 31, 2023. The expiration date for these 12 UEZs is also December 31, 2023. The affected UEZs are in: Bayonne, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Kearny, Millville, North Wildwood, Orange, Roselle, Vineland, West Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest.

New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act

The law, which takes effect Tuesday, establishes the New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act which creates a tax – and reinstates the individual mandate in New Jersey that Congress essentially eliminated – to encourage residents to sign up for health insurance.

The Affordable Care Act created a federal tax that will not be levied after the 2018 tax year. The state tax is designed to prevent erosion of health insurance markets once the federal tax expires, lawmakers say.

Other Tax Changes

Murphy and lawmakers signed tax change legislation that could impact how you file ths year. They are:

• Increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and the property tax deduction;
• Creating a new credit for child and dependent care expenses;
• Increasing the tax rate on individual income over $5 million; and
• Providing for the taxation of certain investment management services.

Here is how they work:

Earned Income Tax Credit: Qualified taxpayers were eligible for a New Jersey Earned Income Tax Credit equal to 35 percent of their federal Earned Income Credit. This law increased the percentage to 37 percent for the taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2019.

Child and Dependent Care Expenses: Eligible resident taxpayers with New Jersey taxable income of $60,000 or less who receive the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit will be granted a Gross Income Tax credit. The credit is nonrefundable, meaning it will offset the tax due but cannot reduce the tax below $0.

Income Tax Rate Increase: As of January 1, 2018, individual income of more than $5 million is taxed at 10.75 percent, regardless of the taxpayer’s filing status. Employers must withhold Gross Income Tax at the rate of 15.6 percent from salaries, wages, and other remuneration paid for services rendered in excess of $5 million during the taxable year.

This higher withholding rate allows taxpayers affected by the rate increase to “catch up” on their withholdings for the year since the new tax rate is retroactive to January 1.

State Tax Amnesty Program

PThis law requires the director of the Division of Taxation to establish a 90-day State tax amnesty period that ends no later than January 15, 2019. It was signed into law on July 1, 2018, and became effective immediately.

Meadowlands Hotel Use Assessment Expansion

The Meadowlands Regional Hotel-Use Assessment will be applied on rent for the occupancy of every room in every hotel located outside of the Meadowlands district, including any hotels located on land owned by the state.

The municipalities include: Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Little Ferry, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, North Arlington, Ridgefield, Rutherford, South Hackensack, and Teterboro in Bergen County; and Jersey City, Kearny, North Bergen, and Secaucus in Hudson County.

Garden State Film and Digital Media Jobs Act

This law provides Corporation Business Tax and Gross Income Tax credits for certain expenses incurred during production of certain films and digital media content.

6 New Bills on School Bus Safety

Murphy signed a package of school bus safety bills into law that were inspired by the horrific fatal school bus crash on I-80 that killed a teacher and child earlier this year.

Murphy signed a series of bills that raise safety standards for school buses and operators in New Jersey.

Under the new laws, parents will be able to send their children to school knowing that school buses and drivers are being held to "extremely high standards designed to ensure the safety of students," Murphy said.

"After the tragic school bus accident in Morris County earlier this year, it became clearer than ever that we must act to protect our children and educators through common sense school bus safety reforms," said Murphy.

The legislation signed by Murphy, and their sponsors, enshrines in law the following requirements:

• A4339 (Swain, Tully, Benson, Jones/Diegnan, Lagana) requires school bus operations in the state to comply with federal regulations concerning safety, noise emissions, insurance, and drug testing, among other areas.
• A4345 (Tully, Swain, Benson, Jones/Diegnan, Holzapfel) requires all permanent and substitute school bus drivers and aides to undergo safety education programs twice every year.
• S2848 (Diegnan, Lagana/Tully, Swain, Benson, Jones) requires holders of a bus driver license to submit a medical report by a certified medical examiner. It also requires bus drivers over age 70 to submit proof of physical fitness every year, and those over age 75 to submit this proof every six months.
• S2850 (Lagana, Diegnan/Swain, Jones, Tully, Benson) requires that when the Department of Education notifies a board of education or a school bus contractor that a school bus driver has had their bus driver license suspended or revoked, the board of education or school bus contractor must verify to DOE that the driver in question no longer operates a bus for them.

Video footage was released last month showing the I-80 bus crash in May that also seriously injured dozens of others. The footage was released in response to lawsuit filed by several New Jersey media outlets.

Read more: Video Shows I-80 Bus Crash That Killed Paramus Student, Teacher

The bus was driven by Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, of Jersey City who had tried to cross several lanes of traffic before being T-boned by a dump truck traveling in the center lane, police said. The body of the bus was ripped from the chassis and sent flying into the center median, police said.

Governor Murphy photo