NJ Tax Clearance Certificate

1 What it is

• Officially: Business Assistance Tax Clearance Certificate (a.k.a. "Business Incentive Tax Clearance")
• One-page PDF issued by NJ Division of Taxation
• Confirms your business filed every required state return and paid every state tax, penalty, and fee; or is current on an approved payment plan
• Required by P.L. 2007, c.101 (per the NJ Division of Taxation) for all state grants, loans, tax credits, and contracts

2 Who needs one

You need one if you're applying for any of these:

• NJEDA programs: SBIG, Lease Grant, Small Business Fund, Main Street Recovery, Food Desert Relief, Aspire, Emerge, Film & Digital Media Tax Credit, Angel Investor Tax Credit, and most others
• State contracts: any deal with an NJ state agency, authority, or state college
• State grants from any department (DOL, DEP, DCA, DOT, Agriculture, etc.)
• Casino, cannabis (CRC), alcoholic beverage (ABC) licenses
• Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) certification
• Economic redevelopment agreements with municipalities

3 How to obtain it

First: make sure you're registered

• Entity formed (LLC, Corp, etc.) via NJ Business Formation
• Registered for taxes with NJ-REG; gives you a 12-digit NJ Tax ID
• Your Business Registration Certificate (BRC) is not the Tax Clearance Certificate

Then: request through Premier Business Services (PBS)

Paper forms are no longer used for grants and contracts. Request online through PBS only.

1. Log into PBS: open the Premier Business Services portal. New users click "First-time User? Register Now"
2. Link your business: My Services → Manage My Business Profiles. Use your NJ Tax ID and the exact business name
3. Open the tool: Tax & Revenue Center → Tax Services → Business Incentive Tax Clearance
4. Fill out the request: have ready: NJ Tax ID, FEIN, legal name, DBA, address, and the awarding agency (certificates are issued to a named agency, not generically)
5. Submit & download: clean accounts get the PDF in minutes from "My Clearances" or "Correspondence." Flagged accounts see "Pending Review" or "Denied; Open Liability"

4 Timing

• Clean account: PDF issued in minutes
• Flagged account: 3–10 business days
• Open liabilities or unfiled returns: indefinite; must be resolved before issuance
• Validity: 180 days from issue date (check the expiration printed on the PDF)

5 Common reasons people get denied clearance

1. Unfiled returns: a single missing CBT-100, NJ-927, ST-50, or NJ-1065 blocks the clearance
2. Outstanding tax liability: unpaid sales tax, withholding, CBT, or penalties
3. Name or FEIN mismatch between Division of Revenue and Division of Taxation records
4. Dissolved or revoked charter: unfiled annual reports
5. Unpaid annual report fees ($75/year for LLCs, for-profit corps, LPs, LLPs; $30/year for nonprofit corporations per NJ Treasury)
6. DOL delinquencies: unemployment insurance arrears
7. Unregistered for a required tax (e.g. collecting sales tax without Certificate of Authority)
8. Successor liability: inherited unpaid taxes from a prior owner

6 If you're denied

1. Read the PBS denial notice: tells you the category, not always the detail
2. Call Taxation's Business Assistance Unit: (609) 322‑6835; handles clearance holds specifically
3. Request a statement of account for every tax type to find the open item
4. Resolve: file missing returns, pay balances, or enter an approved Deferred Payment Plan
5. Annual report / charter issue? Call Revenue at (609) 292‑9292 and reinstate via Annual Reports portal
6. Re-submit in PBS: it does not auto-reissue

7 Official contact info

8 Useful direct links

• Main tax clearance info page (Division of Taxation)
• PBS portal; log in or register
• NJ-REG business registration (prerequisite)
• NJ business formation (if you haven't formed an entity yet)
• NJ annual report filing (reinstate if dissolved)
• NJEDA step-by-step tax clearance directions (PDF)

9 What it looks like

A one-page PDF titled "Business Assistance Tax Clearance Certificate" (State of NJ / Division of Taxation header). It shows:

• Certificate number (e.g., BATC-XXXXXXX)
• Business legal name and NJ Tax ID
• Named awarding agency (e.g., NJEDA)
• Issue date and expiration (~180 days)
• Signature of the Director of the Division of Taxation
• Compliance statement as of the issue date

Find it in PBS under "My Clearances" or "Correspondence." Upload the PDF directly to the awarding agency's portal.