$1,000 child tax credit would cover older New Jersey kids

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.