New Jersey Payroll Tax Guide (2026)
Two different wage caps drive New Jersey payroll in 2026: $44,800 for unemployment and workforce contributions, and $171,100 for the worker disability and family leave deductions, while employers move to Tax Table C for the fiscal year that began 1 July 2026.[1]
New Jersey payroll at a glance
New Jersey runs the most crowded payroll tax stack in the region: graduated income tax withholding, four separate worker contributions for unemployment, workforce development, family leave and disability, and employer unemployment, disability and workforce contributions.[1]
What changed for New Jersey payroll in 2026
Six items moved for New Jersey employers this year. Anything below is what have changed since the 2025 tables, so a rate card carried over from last year will be wrong in at least one place.
2026 New Jersey payroll tax calculator
Enter one employee’s annual gross wages to see what the employer owes, what comes out of the paycheque, and the true cost of employment.
Employer pays
Withheld from the employee
State income tax withholding is not included above: it depends on the employee’s Form NJ-W4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate and filing status, so it cannot be estimated from gross pay alone.
Payroll tax rates & the nexus question
New Jersey runs 10 state payroll taxes. The table below is the whole state layer for 2026.[1]
The state payroll taxes
| Tax | Paid by | 2026 rate | Wage base |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI | Employer | 0.50%–5.80%; 2.80% new | $44,800 |
| Workforce Development and Supplemental Workforce Fund, employer share | Employer | 0.1175% | $44,800 |
| Temporary Disability Insurance, employer share | Employer | 0.50% | $44,800 |
| Health Care Subsidy Fund | Employer | 0.0000% | $44,800 |
| Family Leave Insurance, employer share | Employer | 0.0000% | $44,800 |
| Unemployment Insurance, worker contribution | Employee | 0.3825% | $44,800 |
| Workforce Development and Supplemental Workforce Fund, worker contribution | Employee | 0.0425% | $44,800 |
| Temporary Disability Insurance, worker contribution | Employee | 0.1900% | $171,100 |
| Family Leave Insurance, worker contribution | Employee | 0.2300% | $171,100 |
| Income tax withholding | Employee | 1.40%–10.75% | No limit |
New Jersey is on Tax Table C for the fiscal year running 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The published totals of 0.50 to 5.80% already include the 0.1175% workforce development and supplemental workforce charge and a health care subsidy component set at 0.0000%, so the unemployment piece by itself runs 0.3825 to 5.6825%. Employer rates are built from the employer’s reserve ratio and the Unemployment Trust Fund reserve ratio.[1]
Who has to register
A business is a liable employer once it employs one or more individuals and pays $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar year. It is also liable if it is subject to FUTA through a quarterly payroll of $1,500 or more or covered employment in 20 different calendar weeks. Every business must first register with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services on Form NJ-REG before any employment begins.[1] Income tax withholding is administered separately by New Jersey Division of Taxation, so most employers end up with two state account numbers, not one.
Multistate and remote employees
When an employee works in more than one state, the four-part test below decides which state the wages are reported to. The tests run in order: you stop at the first one that gives an answer.
- 1. Localisation of service→
- 2. Base of operations→
- 3. Place of direction & control→
- 4. Employee’s residence
One remote employee is usually enough. A single person working from home in New Jersey generally creates an obligation to register and report wages here, even if the business has no office, property or customers in the state.
Confused by New Jersey’s payroll withholding & filing rules?
We handle registration, filings, and year-end forms so your team runs payroll without the guesswork.
Ask a Payroll SpecialistRegistration & return filing
Registration is online and free. The unemployment account and, where one exists, the withholding account are opened separately and carry different numbers.[1]
How to register
- Cross the wage threshold→
- Employer Access→
- Receive account number→
- Notice of Employer Contribution Rates, issued each fiscal year and downloaded through Employer Access→
- File & deposit online
A business is a liable employer once it employs one or more individuals and pays $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar year. It is also liable if it is subject to FUTA through a quarterly payroll of $1,500 or more or covered employment in 20 different calendar weeks. Every business must first register with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services on Form NJ-REG before any employment begins.[1]
Deposit schedule
Most employers report quarterly on Form NJ-927. If you withhold more than $500 in the first or the second month of a quarter you must also remit that month on Form NJ-500 by the 15th of the following month. An employer whose prior year withholding liability was $10,000 or more files weekly on Form NJ-927-W and pays by 11:59 pm on the Wednesday after the pay week.[6]
Returns, reports & due dates
| Form | What it is | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Form NJ-927 for the contributions and Form WR-30 for the wage listing | Quarterly unemployment return | April 30, July 30, October 30, January 30 |
| Form NJ-927 quarterly, Form NJ-927-W for weekly filers, Form NJ-500 for monthly… | Income tax withholding returns | Most employers report quarterly on Form NJ-927. If you withhold more t |
| Annual reconciliation | Year-end withholding reconciliation | February 15 |
| Form 941 | Federal quarterly return | Last day of the month after quarter end |
| Form 940 | Federal unemployment, annual | January 31 |
| New hire report | Report of newly hired employees | Within 20 days of start date |
Quarterly unemployment returns are due April 30, July 30, October 30, January 30. A return filed one day late is delinquent, and in most states the penalty attaches to the return, not the payment.[1]
Payroll Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing, no setup fees, no year-end surprises. One flat charge per pay run.
CROWNGLOBE
extra
extra
extra
extra
Subject wages vs. exempt payments
Not every dollar an employee receives is a taxable wage. The split below governs what goes into the unemployment wage base and what is reported at year end.[1]
Subject wages
- Salaries, hourly pay, overtime and piece rates
- Commissions, bonuses and incentive pay
- Most cash tips reported by the employee
- Vacation, holiday and paid sick leave when taken as wages
- Severance and payments in lieu of notice
- The cash value of meals and lodging provided as compensation
- Employer contributions to a non-qualified deferred compensation plan
- Wages subject to the employee-paid contributions listed above
Not subject
- Reimbursements of genuine business expenses under an accountable plan
- Employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan
- Employer-paid premiums for accident and health insurance
- Most third-party sick pay after the sixth calendar month
- Payments to a genuine independent contractor
- Workers compensation benefits
The wage base is per employer, per year, not per job. If you hire someone in August who already earned $44,800 elsewhere, your unemployment clock still starts at zero. The one exception is a successor employer taking over an existing payroll, who inherits the wages already paid.
Glossary of key terms
- Taxable wage base
- The slice of each employee’s annual pay that unemployment tax is calculated on. In New Jersey that is $44,800 for 2026. Earnings above it are still wages, they are simply no longer taxed for unemployment.
- Unemployment Insurance, worker contribution
- An employee-funded contribution withheld from pay at 0.3825%. It is the employee’s money, so it is withheld rather than paid by the employer, but the employer is responsible for remitting it.
- Experience rating
- The method New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employer Accounts uses to set each employer’s own unemployment rate from its history of claims. Employers with fewer charged claims move down the schedule; those with more move up.
- New employer rate
- The rate assigned before an employer has enough history to be experience rated. It normally applies for two to three years, then the account moves onto the experience schedule.
- Form NJ-W4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
- The state withholding certificate. It sets how much income tax comes out of each cheque and is filed with the employer, not with New Jersey Division of Taxation.
- Reserve account
- The running balance of contributions an employer has paid in, less the benefits charged against it. The ratio of that balance to taxable payroll is what drives the assigned rate.
- Successor employer
- A business that acquires another’s payroll may inherit both its experience rate and the wages already paid toward the wage base for the year. Getting this wrong is a common acquisition error.
- Localisation of service
- The first of four tests deciding which state a multistate employee’s wages are reported to. If substantially all the work is in one state, that state wins and the remaining tests are never reached.
- FUTA credit reduction
- A reduction in the 5.4% federal unemployment credit applied to states that have carried an outstanding federal loan for two or more consecutive Januaries. It raises the effective FUTA rate and is settled each November.
- Supplemental wages
- Bonuses, commissions, awards and similar payments made outside the regular payroll cycle. Many states set a separate flat withholding rate for them.
- Local withholding
- Income or occupational tax levied by a city, county or school district and withheld by the employer alongside state tax. It is assessed separately from the state layer.
New Jersey payroll tax, layer by layer
Federal tax applies everywhere and is the larger number. The state layer is what changes when you cross a border.
Layer 1: Federal
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% each side | $184,500 |
| Medicare | 1.45% each side | No limit |
| Additional Medicare | 0.9% employee only | Over $200,000 |
| FUTA, standard | 0.6% net | $7,000 |
| Federal income tax | Per Form W-4 | No limit |
New Jersey has no FUTA credit reduction for 2026, so the standard 0.6% net rate applies, $42 per employee. The final list is not published until 10 November 2026.[14]
Layer 2: State
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| UI, new employer | 2.80% | $44,800 |
| UI, experienced | 0.50%–5.80% | $44,800 |
| Workforce Development and Supplemental Workforce Fund, employer share | 0.1175% | $44,800 |
| Temporary Disability Insurance, employer share | 0.50% | $44,800 |
| Health Care Subsidy Fund | 0.0000% | $44,800 |
| Family Leave Insurance, employer share | 0.0000% | $44,800 |
| Unemployment Insurance, worker contribution, employee | 0.3825% | $44,800 |
| Workforce Development and Supplemental Workforce Fund, worker contribution, employee | 0.0425% | $44,800 |
| Temporary Disability Insurance, worker contribution, employee | 0.1900% | $171,100 |
| Family Leave Insurance, worker contribution, employee | 0.2300% | $171,100 |
| Income tax, standard | 1.40%–10.75% | No limit |
Layer 3, county & city: a real third layer
New Jersey imposes no county or municipal income tax on wages, so state withholding is the only income tax that comes out of employee pay anywhere in the state. A small number of municipalities are authorised by state law to levy an employer paid payroll tax, which is administered by the city rather than by the Division of Taxation. Employers with a location in one of those cities file and pay locally in addition to their state returns.[7]
The state minimum wage is $15.92 an hour, effective 2026-01-01. The tipped cash wage is $6.05. No local ordinance sets a higher floor. No New Jersey municipality sets its own minimum wage, so the state figure governs statewide. Employers with fewer than six employees and employers of seasonal workers pay a reduced rate of $15.23 an hour. A tipped worker must be paid a cash wage of at least $6.05 an hour and the employer must make up any shortfall if tips do not carry the worker to $15.92. New Jersey adjusts the minimum wage every 1 January under a set formula, so another step is due on 1 January 2027. The 2027 figure had not been published at the access date.[11]
Overtime exemption is a separate test. A salaried employee is exempt from overtime only above $35,568 a year ($684.00 a week) federal FLSA, and only if the duties test is also met. Paying a salary is not by itself enough.[13]
New Jersey payroll FAQs
Four worker items run in parallel. Unemployment at 0.3825% and workforce development at 0.0425% both stop at $44,800, which is $171.36 and $19.04. Temporary disability at 0.19% and family leave at 0.23% both run to $171,100, which is $325.09 and $393.53. That is $909.02 in total before state income tax.
No. Family leave insurance in New Jersey is funded entirely by worker contributions, and the employer family leave rate for the fiscal year beginning 1 July 2026 is 0.0000%. Employers do fund temporary disability, where the new employer rate is 0.50% on the first $44,800, unless they run an approved private disability plan.
New Jersey splits the calendar. Employer contribution rates run on a fiscal year from 1 July to 30 June and are issued as a Notice of Employer Contribution Rates through Employer Access. Worker contribution rates and both taxable wage bases run on the calendar year. That means a single quarter can sit on one year’s worker rates and a different fiscal year’s employer rate.
New Jersey does not publish a flat supplemental rate. Form NJ-WT says that if the supplemental wages are paid at the same time as regular wages you total the two and withhold on the combined payment at the appropriate rate. If they are paid at a different time you withhold on the supplemental payment without any exemption allowances the employee claimed on Form NJ-W4.
For the fiscal year beginning 1 July 2026 a new employer pays 2.6825% for unemployment plus 0.1175% for workforce development, which is 2.80% in total, and a separate 0.50% for temporary disability, all on the first $44,800 of each worker’s wages. New employers keep those rates for their first three calendar years, after which an experience based rate is calculated.
Form NJ-927 for the contributions and Form WR-30 for the wage listing must both be received by the 30th day following the end of the quarter, so 30 April, 30 July, 30 October and 30 January. Note that New Jersey uses the 30th rather than the last day of the month, which makes the July and October deadlines a day earlier than the federal pattern.
$44,800 per employee per calendar year. Once an employee reaches that in wages from you, no further unemployment tax is due on that employee for the rest of the year. The count restarts on 1 January and does not carry over from a previous employer.
$15.92 an hour. No local ordinance sets a higher rate. The tipped cash wage is $6.05.
April 30, July 30, October 30, January 30. A return is delinquent the day after the deadline even if the tax itself was paid on time, so file the return whether or not you can pay.
Sources & methodology
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employer Accounts – Rate Information, Contributions, and Due Dates
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Experience Rating Tax Table C
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Who Qualifies as an Employer
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Employer Services
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Employer Handbook: Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance
- New Jersey Division of Taxation – Form NJ-WT, New Jersey Gross Income Tax Instructions for Employers
- New Jersey Division of Taxation – Payroll Taxes and Wage Withholding
- New Jersey Division of Taxation – New Jersey Tax Rate Schedules, 2020 and After
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Wage and Hour Compliance
- New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development – Wage and Hour Worker Frequently Asked Questions
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – State Minimum Wage Laws
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Fact Sheet 17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees
- Federal Register, U.S. Department of Labor – Notice of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) Credit Reductions Applicable for 2025
Need help with New Jersey payroll compliance?
CrownGlobe runs payroll for U.S. businesses in every state, registration, withholding, filings, and year-end forms.
Running payroll in more than one state?
New Jersey alone means its own registration, its own deposit calendar and its own year-end reconciliation. Add a second state and the work compounds rather than doubles. CrownGlobe runs multistate payroll end to end: registration, deposits, quarterly returns and year-end.
Explore payroll processing services →Browse all state payroll guides →
Book a free consultation →