STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator GERALD CARDINALE
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators T.Kean and Bateman
SYNOPSIS
Provides gross income tax credits for certain taxpayers who provide blood donations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act providing credits against the gross income tax for certain blood donors, 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. A taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against the tax otherwise due under the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., in an amount equal to $100 per taxable year if the taxpayer makes four or more blood donations, as defined by this section, through a blood bank operator licensed under P.L.1963, c.33 (C.26:2A-1 et seq.) or a hospital licensed under P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) that maintains blood donor facilities and provides blood donation services to the public. For purposes of this section, one "blood donation" equals one whole blood donation, platelet donation, or plasma donation; one double red cell donation shall be considered two blood donations.
b. A credit allowed under this section shall be claimed for the taxable year in which four or more blood donations occur.
c. If the amount of credit allowed pursuant to subsection a. of this section for a taxable year, together with any other payments or credits against the tax, reduces the tax liability otherwise due for the taxable year to zero, any amount of credit remaining shall be paid to the taxpayer as a refund of an overpayment of tax pursuant to N.J.S.54A:9-7; provided, however, that subsection (f) of that section, concerning the allowance of interest, shall not apply.
d. The director shall promulgate procedures and forms by which licensed blood bank operators and hospitals shall certify that a taxpayer has qualified for the credit under this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017.
STATEMENT
This bill creates a $100 gross income tax credit for taxpayers who donate blood, platelets, or plasma at least four times in a taxable year.
The State has sought to encourage residents to make regular blood donations. The need for blood is ever-present, and simply put, it saves lives. Donations are used to aid individuals battling cancer, trauma victims, surgical patients, premature infants, and American soldiers serving in battlefields. According to the American Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the United States is in need of blood, though less than 5 percent of the American population that is eligible to donate blood actually does so each year.
To be eligible for this credit, a taxpayer must, for a taxable year, (1) make four donations of whole blood, platelets, or plasma; (2) make two double red cell donations (since the donor must wait twice as long to donate again after a double red cell donation); or (3) make a combination thereof that equals four blood donations. The bill requires the Director of the Division of Taxation to promulgate procedures and forms that the donors could use to verify, for tax purposes, that the requisite number of donations have been made.
Cord blood banks are not covered by this proposal.