Bill Text: NJ S1049 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides temporary period for making certain estate tax refund claims and directs notice be given to certain affected parties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-04 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S1049 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S1049-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator CHRISTOPHER J. CONNORS
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
Senator PHILIP E. HAINES
District 8 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Provides temporary period for making certain estate tax refund claims and directs notice be given to certain affected parties.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act providing a temporary period for making certain estate tax refund claims and directing notice be given to certain affected parties, supplementing Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.54:38-3, R.S.54:49-14, or any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the filing of a claim of refund for payment of estate tax made pursuant to R.S.54:38-1 et seq. shall be allowed for a period of 365 days following the effective date of this section for an executor, administrator, trustee, person or corporation seeking a refund of estate tax for the amount of tax paid pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2002, c.31 that is in excess of the amount of tax that would have been due if the provisions of subsection (c) of section 2010 of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.2010) concerning the applicable exclusion amount as in effect on January 1, 2002 had been, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2) of subsection a. of R.S.54:38-2, in effect for the determination of the liability of the tax imposed pursuant to R.S.54:38-2 upon the transfer of the estate of a resident decedent dying after December 31, 2001 but before July 1, 2002. Within 90 days of the date of enactment, the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury shall provide written notice of the refund claim period provided in this section to all persons liable for the payment of tax and filing returns for which a liability was due for decedents dying after December 31, 2001 but before July 1, 2002.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill is meant to redress the inability of certain aggrieved parties to apply for estate tax refunds. The State Supreme Court has ruled that retroactive application of New Jersey's 2002 amendments to the estate tax constitutes a "manifest injustice." However, those parties affected by the retroactive application of the 2002 amendments are prohibited from seeking a refund unless they had already filed a claim prior to the expiration of the statutorily allotted period. Currently, claims for refunds under the estate tax are allowed within three years from the date of payment. The pertinent State Supreme Court case in this matter was not decided until February of 2008, which in some cases is three years after the timeframe for a claim of refund had elapsed.
This bill temporarily enables aggrieved parties to file claims for refunds for overpayments of the estate tax made in connection with the 2002 amendments' barred retroactive application. This bill also requires the director of the Division of Taxation to provide affected parties with written notice of this extended period. The Director must provide such notice within three months of enactment, while the period to file a refund claim extends for one year from enactment. This bill will provide a remedy for those parties aggrieved by the retroactive application of the 2002 amendments to the estate tax.
