Register and Collect Taxes and Fees
Every person who charges for the rental of a transient accommodation is a seller and must register with the State for the collection and remittance of all applicable taxes, fees, and assessments by filing a business registration application (Form NJ-REG).
The following information will help guide you through the registration and remittance process of taxes associated with your rental property.
This guidance will help:
- Property owners who rent or lease transient accommodations, but are not in the business of property management;
- Businesses not engaged in the business of renting or leasing transient accommodations;
- Businesses already engaged in renting or leasing transient accommodations, but need to update their tax registration to include Sales Tax, the State Occupancy Fee, the Meadowlands Regional Hotel Use Assessment (if applicable), and any other applicable taxes, fees, or assessments.
Certain transient accommodations are exempt from tax. See Publication TB-81R, Taxes Imposed on Charges for the Rental of Transient Accommodation, for exclusions.
If you are already registered in New Jersey to rent out transient accommodations, but not to collect New Jersey Sales Tax, and/or the State Occupancy Fee, you will need to amend your registration by completing Form NJ-REG-C-L.
Businesses not engaged in the business of renting or leasing transient accommodations should complete a new and separate registration for that purpose.
Once you are on the Business Registration portal, choose “Register as an Individual solely for Transient Accommodations.” Follow all the prompts until you get to the confirmation page. When you are properly registered, you will be able to file the New Jersey Sales Tax return (Form ST-50) and the Hotel and Motel State Occupancy Fee and Municipal Occupancy Tax return (HM-100). After registration, you can download your Sales Tax Certificate of Authority. This certificate certifies that you are authorized to collect taxes and fees and must be displayed in the transient accommodation.
Note: If you rent your property for only part of the year, you may register as a “Seasonal Business” by indicating the months you will rent out your transient accommodation.
If you rent out more than one property, you must register each individual location separately. Each location will be assigned the same tax ID # containing its own identifying suffix and issued separate Sales Tax certificates. If you have multiple properties, you can file for each property separately or request to file a consolidated Sales Tax return (see Billing and Remitting). A welcome packet, containing helpful filing information, will be mailed to you.
Once you are properly registered you will want to set up a “Premier Business Services (PBS) Account.” PBS is a convenient one-stop access to all New Jersey electronic tax filing and payment services that apply to your transient accommodation, as well as access to your filing/payment history. You can access this service by choosing the “Go to Premier Business Services” button on the confirmation page.
When you rent out your transient accommodation and bill the customer, you must separately state on any billing notice, receipt, or statement provided to the renter or lessee:
- Charge for the rental;
- New Jersey Sales Tax (6.625%);
- State Occupancy Fee (5%) unless your rental is located in Atlantic City, Elizabeth City, Newark, Jersey City (1%) or The Wildwoods (3.15%);
- Meadowlands Regional Hotel Use Assessment (if applicable);
Sales Tax is remitted by filing Form ST-50.
State Occupancy Fees are remitted using the Form HM-100.
Filing Sales Tax Returns (ST-50)
You must file quarterly returns, even if you did not have any rentals during the period. In this case, you simply login and file a return with all 0’s.
Quarterly returns are due 20 days after the close of the quarter:
- Q1 - January, February, March. Due no later than April 20.
- Q2 - April, May, June. Due no later than July 20.
- Q3 - July, August, September. Due no later than October 20.
- Q4 - October, November, December. Due no later than January 20.
Seasonal Businesses. Only file for the quarters that contain the months you indicated on your business registration application.
Sales Tax Consolidated filing. Report all transactions on one ST-50 and remit taxes collected for all locations in one payment. You can request to file consolidated returns for multiple locations by calling the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services at 609-292-9292 or write to:
NJ Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services
Client Registration Branch
PO Box 252
Trenton NJ 08646-0252
Filing State Occupancy Fees (HM-100)
Monthly returns are due 20 days after the month’s end.Example: The October return is due November 20, 2018.
Note: If you have multiple properties, you must file an HM-100 return for each property location.
Other Taxes and Fees
Note: Due to the expansion of the law regarding transient accommodations, municipalities will need to amend their local ordinances to include additional types of transient accommodations before the below taxes and fees can be collected. See Publication TB-81R, Taxes Imposed on Charges for the Rental of Transient Accommodations for additional information.
When you decide to stop renting your transient accommodation, you have to end your registration.
Complete the reverse side of the Sales Tax Certificate of Authority and the Business Registration Certificate and mail to the addresses indicated on the forms.
Make sure you file all returns that cover the last day of registration.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 04/15/20
