NJ Division of Taxation - Office of the Taxpayer Advocate

Office of the Taxpayer Advocate

Who We Are

If you have a State tax problem that you've been unable to resolve through normal channels or that is causing you "undue hardship", you can request assistance from the Division's Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (OTA).

The OTA can only assist if your problem is a result of a determination made by the Division of Taxation. The OTA can't assist with problems that result from a determination or action of another State department or agency or from tax notices or determinations that were issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If you received a notice from the IRS and you'd like to contact their Tax Advocate Service (TAS) for assistance, please visit their website at TAS – Your Voice at the IRS.

The OTA can't be a substitute for, or circumvent or replace, established procedures or the formal appeals process. It is only when those procedures don't work properly that the OTA can help.

The OTA also identifies and then proposes solutions and changes to broad-based systemic problems that increase the burden on, or create problems for many taxpayers. If you have information about a systemic issue that might affect a significant number of taxpayers, we'd like to hear about it. If needed, the OTA will recommend administrative or legislative changes to resolve and/or relieve identified systemic problems.

Please visit the following web pages for information regarding:

Overview of the OTA

The OTA is never your first step in resolving your tax problem. You and/or your representative must have tried to resolve your tax problem with the Division on your own before contacting. Many tax issues can be resolved through the Division's Customer Service Center (CSC). See Customer Service Center for more information about the CSC, including the Tax Practitioner's Hotlines.

The OTA does not limit cases that we accept by tax type, provided our case acceptance guidelines are met.

Our office will work with appropriate Division personnel and you (or your representative) to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

What we can do:

Provide free and independent review of your tax issue.
Assist you when your unresolved NJ tax problems are causing undue hardship.
Help you when you've been unable to resolve your NJ tax problems through normal channels.
Identify and propose solutions to systemic problems, including those that compromise your taxpayer rights.
Recommend administrative and legislative reforms as necessary.

What we can't do:

Reverse legal or technical tax determinations.
Accept requests for assistance when an administrative or formal appeal procedure should be used.
Accept routine inquiries that haven't been previously addressed by the appropriate Division office or resource.
Accept requests for assistance with tax problems that result from actions or determinations of another State department or agency.
Assist with IRS tax issues.
Waive business tax or income tax filing requirements as prescribed by law.

NJ EITC Issues

If you've already submitted documents to the Division to verify your NJ EITC claim, you'll need to allow additional time to receive a response. We can only assist when you've experienced a delay of more than 90 days to receive a response.

Refund Claims

We can't accept refund status inquires for any tax year unless:

You've been waiting more than four months for the Division to process your claim; and
You've already inquired about your claim, in writing or by responding to a notice, and haven't heard from the Division.

If it's been less than four months, you can check your refund status online or call the Division's Customer Service Center.

Contact us to:

Resolve a specific taxpayer problem
Report a systemic problem

How to contact the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (OTA)

State of New Jersey
Division of Taxation
Office of the Taxpayer Advocate (OTA)
P.O. Box 240
Trenton, NJ 08695-0240

Fax: (609) 984-5491

E-Mail: nj.taxpayeradvocate@treas.nj.gov

Please note: E-mails sent to this address are not sent through a secure server. We recommend that you do not include your full social security number. The OTA will contact you if additional information is needed.