New Jersey now claims ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ on one combined form, the PAS-1, due November 2, 2026. Homeowners under 65 and most renters are filed automatically. Senior homeowners and disability recipients are not, and must file themselves. The three benefits share one ceiling: half your property taxes, capped at $6,500.
7:09. The written version, the figures and the sources are all below.
| Deadline, all three programs | November 2, 2026 | For the 2025 application year. NJ Division of Taxation. |
|---|---|---|
| ANCHOR, homeowner | $1,500 | NJ gross income of $150,000 or less; $1,000 from $150,001 to $250,000. |
| ANCHOR, senior addition | +$250 | Anyone age 65 or older by December 31, 2025. |
| Senior Freeze income limit | $172,475 | For 2025, and $168,268 or less for 2024. Both years must qualify. |
| Stay NJ income limit | $200,000 | For 2025. Maximum benefit steps down above $100,000 of income. |
| Stay NJ maximum | $6,500 | Tops your total relief up to 50% of property taxes, capped here. |
Three programs now share one application and one deadline. If you own your home and you are 65 or older, you are the only group New Jersey will not file for.
The NJ ANCHOR program in 2026 is no longer a standalone thing you apply for. New Jersey now runs ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ off a single combined form, the PAS-1, with one deadline for all three: November 2, 2026. That is a real simplification, and it has created one sharp new problem.
Most people are filed automatically. Homeowners under 65 and most renters had their ANCHOR applications submitted for them, and confirmation letters went out on August 10, 2026. Senior homeowners and disability benefit recipients were not included. They have to file the PAS-1 themselves — and they are the group with by far the most money on the table.
Key takeaways
- One form, the PAS-1, now covers ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ. The deadline for the 2025 application is November 2, 2026.
- Senior homeowners and disability recipients are not auto-filed. Everyone else largely is.
- The three benefits do not stack. Stay NJ tops your total up to 50% of your property taxes, capped at $6,500.
- File by September 1 and your Senior Freeze check is dated November 2. File later and it moves to December 1.
What the PAS-1 actually is
The PAS-1 is the combined Application for Property Tax Relief. You complete it once, and the Division of Taxation works out which of the three programs you qualify for, calculates each benefit, and sends you a single benefit statement showing all three amounts.
You still receive three separate payments on three separate schedules — the programs did not merge, only the paperwork did. But one form now stands between you and all of them, which is a great deal better than the three-deadline arrangement it replaced.
Automatic filing does not cover seniors
If you are 65 or older, or you receive Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, the Division will not file on your behalf. There is no confirmation letter coming. You must complete the PAS-1 online or on paper yourself.
Renters are the exception in the other direction: most renters are filed automatically for ANCHOR regardless of age. Senior Freeze and Stay NJ are homeowner programs and do not apply to renters at all.
ANCHOR: the broad one
ANCHOR is based on where you lived on October 1, 2025, and your 2025 New Jersey gross income. It is the only one of the three that reaches renters, and the only one with no age requirement.
| Who you are | 2025 NJ gross income | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Homeowner | $150,000 or less | $1,500 |
| Homeowner | $150,001 to $250,000 | $1,000 |
| Renter, age 64 or younger | $150,000 or less | $450 |
| Renter, age 65 or older | $150,000 or less | $700 |
| Homeowner who turned 65 by Dec 31, 2025 | Within the above limits | Add $250 |
So a 68-year-old homeowner in Hillsborough with $90,000 of New Jersey gross income receives $1,750 — the $1,500 base plus the $250 senior amount. A homeowner the same age at $180,000 receives $1,250.
Senior Freeze and Stay NJ are not the same program
People use these two names interchangeably, and they are different in kind. Senior Freeze reimburses the increase in your property taxes since your base year. Stay NJ is a top-up toward half your bill. A long-time owner in a town where taxes have climbed steadily can collect far more from Senior Freeze than from anything else; a recent buyer will collect almost nothing from it.
| Senior Freeze | Stay NJ | |
|---|---|---|
| Age or disability | 65+ on Dec 31, 2025, or receiving SSD/Railroad disability | 65 or older during 2025 — no disability route |
| Renters | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| Income limit | $172,475 for 2025 and $168,268 for 2024 | $200,000 for 2025 |
| Time in the home | Owned and lived there since Dec 31, 2022 or earlier | Owned and lived there all 12 months of 2025 |
| What it pays | Current year property taxes minus base year property taxes | Whatever brings your total to 50% of taxes, max $6,500 |
| How it is paid | One reimbursement on a filing-date schedule | Quarterly installments |
Note that Senior Freeze tests two years of income and Stay NJ tests one. This is the single most common reason people rule themselves out incorrectly — they check one ceiling, decide they are over it, and never look at the other two.
The ceiling that surprises everyone
Here is the mechanic almost nobody explains, and the reason the three amounts on your benefit statement will look smaller than you expected when you add them up.
Stay NJ is not a fourth check. New Jersey calculates your Senior Freeze and ANCHOR benefits first. Stay NJ then pays only the difference needed to bring your total relief to 50% of your property taxes, capped at $6,500. If Senior Freeze and ANCHOR already exceed half your bill, Stay NJ pays nothing — and that is the system working as designed, not an error on your statement.
Claiming all three programs does not raise your total. A higher tax bill and a lower base year do.
What the three together are actually worth
The cleanest way to see the ceiling is on a real bill. Here is a Hillsborough homeowner who bought in 2019 and turned 65 in 2022 — which makes 2022 her base year, because that is the first year she met every Senior Freeze requirement.
A Hillsborough homeowner, age 68
| 2025 property taxes billed | $12,000 |
| Base year (2022) property taxes | $9,800 |
| 2025 NJ gross income | $90,000 |
| Senior Freeze ($12,000 − $9,800) | $2,200 |
| ANCHOR ($1,500 + $250 senior amount) | $1,750 |
| 50% of property taxes (the ceiling) | $6,000 |
| Stay NJ top-up ($6,000 − $3,950) | $2,050 |
| Total relief | $6,000 |
Change the base year to $11,500 and Senior Freeze drops to $500 — but Stay NJ rises to $3,750 and the total stays $6,000. The mix moves; the ceiling does not.
What the $6,000 ceiling really means
It means the three programs answer one question between them: what fraction of your property tax bill does New Jersey give back? For a senior who qualifies for all three, the answer is half, up to $6,500. Everything else — which program pays which share, and on what schedule — is machinery behind that number. That is worth knowing before you compare your benefit statement with a neighbour’s and conclude one of you was shortchanged.
The exception that helps a long-time owner
The one case where the ceiling does not bind is a very low base year against a high current bill. If your Senior Freeze reimbursement alone exceeds half your taxes, you keep it — Stay NJ simply pays nothing on top.
How to file, and why the date matters
Filing the PAS-1 takes about twenty minutes once you have the numbers in front of you. You need four things:
- Gross income as reported on your 2024 NJ-1040.
- Gross income as reported on your 2025 NJ-1040.
- Property taxes billed for 2024 — from your bill or your tax collector’s office.
- Property taxes billed for 2025 — same source.
File online at propertytaxreliefapp.nj.gov if you possibly can. Applicants who file the paper PAS-1 receive every benefit as a paper check mailed to the address on the application. Applicants who file online can choose direct deposit for some payments, which lands faster and does not get lost.
When you file decides when you are paid
This is the part worth acting on this month rather than in late October. Senior Freeze checks are dated according to when your application came in:
| You file | Your check is dated |
|---|---|
| Before May 1, 2026 | July 15, 2026 |
| May 1 to June 1, 2026 | September 1, 2026 |
| June 2 to September 1, 2026 | November 2, 2026 |
| September 2 to October 31, 2026 | December 1, 2026 |
ANCHOR payments began September 15, 2026 and go out on a rolling basis, with most applicants paid within 90 days of filing. Stay NJ is paid quarterly: the remaining 2024 benefit in August and November 2026, and the 2025 benefit in February and May of 2027.
One honest trade-off
Filing early gets your Senior Freeze money sooner. But if your 2025 NJ-1040 is still on extension, wait and file the PAS-1 with the correct figure rather than filing fast with an estimate you will have to correct.
What goes wrong
Five mistakes that cost New Jersey seniors money
- Assuming the August letter covered you. It went to automatic filers. Senior homeowners never received one, and its absence is not a sign of a problem — it is the sign that you have to act.
- Filing for ANCHOR and stopping. On the combined form there is nothing extra to do, but people who applied through an old ANCHOR-only route leave the two larger programs unclaimed.
- Ruling yourself out against the wrong income ceiling. Four different limits are in play across the three programs.
- Filing on paper out of habit, and receiving every single benefit as a mailed check.
- Waiting until the last week of October. The application is open now, the system is quieter, and your Senior Freeze check is a month earlier.
Every one of these is fixable before November 2, 2026. After that date the entire 2025 application year is closed — all three programs, no partial credit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the deadline for the NJ ANCHOR program in 2026?
The deadline for the 2025 application is November 2, 2026. That single date covers ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ, because all three are now claimed on the combined Form PAS-1.
Do I have to apply for ANCHOR if I am a senior?
Yes. Senior homeowners and Social Security Disability or Railroad Retirement disability benefit recipients are not filed automatically. You must complete Form PAS-1 yourself, online or on paper. Homeowners under 65 and most renters had their applications filed for them.
Can I receive ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ at the same time?
Yes, but the three do not add up the way people expect. New Jersey calculates Senior Freeze and ANCHOR first, then Stay NJ pays only enough to bring your total to 50% of your property taxes, capped at $6,500.
Can renters get Senior Freeze or Stay NJ?
No. Senior Freeze and Stay NJ are both homeowner programs. Renters are eligible for ANCHOR only, and most renters are filed automatically by the Division of Taxation.
What documents do I need to file the PAS-1?
Gross income from both your 2024 and your 2025 NJ-1040, and property tax figures for both 2024 and 2025. Your municipal tax collector can supply the property tax amounts if you do not have the bills.
Not sure which of the three you qualify for?
We check eligibility against all three programs, calculate what the combination is actually worth to you, and file the PAS-1 with you before November 2. We are in Hillsborough and this is a New Jersey question we handle every autumn.
This article is general tax education and does not constitute individualized tax, legal or financial advice. Figures are stated for the tax year shown and are subject to IRS adjustment. Consult a qualified professional about your own facts.
