Income Tax
$1,000 child tax credit would cover older New Jersey kids
The proposal leaves the top benefit and $80,000 cutoff unchanged, but moves the age limit up from under 6 to under 12. If enacted, it would apply to taxable years beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
New Jersey’s child tax credit could stretch farther for families with younger school-age children. Sen. Vince Polistina’s bill would let resident taxpayers claim it for children ages 6 to 11, with the same income-based phaseout already in state law.
- The age cutoff would rise from under 6 to under 12.
- Families with income up to $80,000 could still qualify.
- The largest credit would remain $1,000 per child.
- The change would apply starting Jan. 1, 2026.
- New Jersey families with school-age children could see a bigger break at tax time under a proposal from Sen
New Jersey families with school-age children could see a bigger break at tax time under a proposal from Sen. Vince Polistina of Atlantic County. The bill would expand the state child tax credit to resident taxpayers with children ages 6 to 11, starting with taxable years beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
For households stretched by groceries, clothes and after-school care, the change matters because it would catch children who have outgrown the current cutoff but still carry the same daily costs. The income limit would stay at $80,000 for resident taxpayers.
The credit would still shrink as income rises
The bill keeps the existing sliding scale in place. Families with New Jersey taxable income of $30,000 or less would get $1,000 per child, then the credit would step down through the higher income bands to $800, $600, $400 and $200 for households earning more than $60,000 but not more than $80,000.
It would also keep the credit available to taxpayers filing with either a Social Security number or an individual taxpayer identification number. If the credit is larger than the tax owed, the excess would count as a refundable overpayment, which means the break could still help families whose tax bill is already small.