ANCHOR Payments Reversed for Some NJ Taxpayers

The State of New Jersey’s Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) property tax relief program officially opened for 2024 in August.  Payments for eligible homeowners and renters began going out on a rolling basis in mid-October; however, just a short time later, the State pulled the ANCHOR benefit payments from some taxpayers’ accounts, due to possible fraud.

ANCHOR Property Tax Relief – Suspected Fraud

The payments that were reversed were initially paid by direct deposit.  They were diverted back to the State’s Division of Taxation while “suspected fraud” was investigated in a number of accounts, to ensure that the payments were actually going to eligible taxpayers.  The State has not yet said how many taxpayers were affected, how many benefit payments were reversed, or how many fraud attempts it was investigating.  The online ANCHOR status check tool was also taken down for a short time, although the site is now working again.

Many residents were surprised by the unexpected action.  For this year’s payments, the state established new measures to prevent fraud after hundreds of thousands of fake applications for ANCHOR benefits were filed and ultimately blocked in 2023.  As of October 23, 2024, the Division of Taxation claimed they had successfully confirmed all legitimate taxpayers affected by the payment reversal.  A paper check, instead of another direct deposit, will be mailed to those taxpayers immediately.

Contact Us

If you have a question about the information outlined above or need assistance with a tax or filing issue, Klatzkin can help. For additional information call 609-890-9189 or click here to contact us. We look forward to speaking with you soon.