Jersey City Economic Development Corporation :: FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Jersey City and the JCEDC are very interested in your business choosing Jersey City as a place to expand or locate. We are as interested in helping a neighborhood grocer as we are in a larger corporate client. Whatever your business, if you are considering locating or expanding here, we want to hear, on a confidential basis, your concerns and your expectations for assistance.

Once your business's needs are known, the City will, working with the State and/or a landlord or developer of your choosing, design a package of incentives and suggest a meeting with appropriate players. At such a meeting, you can not only hear first hand about the City's incentives, but you can gauge our level of responsiveness.

Business Incentives

The region's business leaders expect the Jersey City economy to outperform other local economies in the rest of the NJ/NYC/CT metro region. Evidence of this optimism: Northern New Jersey was cited as the region with the highest satisfaction among recently relocated companies.

Tax Benefits

City Taxes

The City of Jersey City levies no payroll tax, no corporation tax, no unincorporated tax, no capital stock tax, no income tax, no sales tax, no personal property tax and no tax on commercial leases. The only tax on businesses is on real estate which may be capped by a tax abatement process. Mayor Jerramiah Healy's municipal budget has kept the lid on taxes and he has pledged to continue to do so.

State Taxes

New Jersey's tax burden on both businesses and employees is lower than that of New York State and other surrounding states. Corporate taxes in Jersey City are less than half of those in NYC, which has significantly higher business taxes than anywhere in the region. Business tax rates in Jersey City are also lower than Stamford, CT, Phila., PA or Westchester, NY.

A comparison of State Unemployment Insurance Taxes for business with a positive reserve balance found that for a typical Jersey City business, the maximum amounts payable by employer for each employee are lower than other municipalities, while the employer also pays a minimum rate significantly below the others. Additionally, while state income taxes in the Metro Region are computed differently, in every analysis the JCEDC has done, we found income tax rates in Jersey City to be lower after adjusting for taxable income.

NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES

LARGER BUSINESSES

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

RELOCATION ASSISTANCE

Urban Enterprise Zones

Under a program designed to aid businesses and stimulate development, an area of Jersey City is designated an Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZ). The Jersey City Economic Development Corporation administers the program in Jersey City since 1986. The City's Urban Enterprise Zone encompasses approximately 35% of Jersey City and 80% of its commercial areas.

Businesses within this areas benefit from a variety of tax credits which can provide significant savings to operating costs, including:

Exemption from Sales Tax: Your company is exempt from paying taxes on any purchase related to running the business, from buying desks to fixing a computer to placing advertisements.
Employee Tax Credits: Hire new employees from Jersey City and your company will receive a direct credit to your corporate tax of $500-$1,500.
Reduction in Unemployment Insurance Tax: Up to 50% off your company's Unemployment Insurance tax bill for the first four years.
50% Sales Tax Reduction: Since November of 1992, Certified retailers must collect from their customers only 50% of the States established sales tax rate. The revenues generated from these selected sales tax are held in a fund to be used for eligible improvement projects within the City's UEZ.

Currently, there are 899+ active UEZ businesses in Jersey City, over 9,000 new full time jobs have been created and $1.2 million in funding and capital investment has been generated. Learn more about how the UEZ Program can benefit your business.

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