154 
TAXATION AND REVENUE SYSTEMS—NEW JERSEY. 
No mortgage or debt secured by mortgage on real property which 
is taxed, shall be listed lor taxation, and no deduction from the 
assessed value shall be made on account of a mortgage. The parties 
to a mortgage may agree as to who shall pay the tax on that part of 
the property covered by the mortgage. A mortgage on personal 
property may be listed if the owner of mortgaged property claims 
deduction. 
The taxpayer has the right to claim deduction, from the aggre 
gate of his personal property, of all debts due persons residing in 
the state, but in making such claim for deduction he must list his 
creditors and state the amounts owing them. 
Corporations, except as specifically provided otherwise, are 
treated as residents or inhabitants of the taxing districts where 
their chief office is located. Their real and personal property is 
assessed in the same manner as other property. With the excep 
tion of banks (national, state, and trust companies) the shares of 
stock of corporations are not taxable as such, the property which 
they represent being taxed to the corporations. 
Shares of stock in national and in state banks are assessed against 
the stockholders in the taxing district where they reside, those of 
nonresident holders being assessed where the bank is located. The 
bank pays the taxes on nonresident shares and has a lien on the 
stock and dividends to ensure reimbursement. The real property 
of banks is assessed to the bank and the amount thereof deducted 
before the value of the shares is determined. 
Life insurance companies resident in the state are taxed in the 
same manner as other corporations and in deducting their debts 
are allowed to deduct, not the face of the policies, but their present 
value. Fire insurance companies are taxed on the full amount of 
capital stock paid in and the accumulated surplus, less real estate as 
separately assessed. 
Stock insurance companies, other than fire and life, shall be 
assessed in the taxing district where their principal office is situated, 
in the same manner as fire insurance companies are assessed. The 
real estate is assessed in the district where located. The amount of 
the real estate assessment shall be deducted from any assessment 
made upon the capital stock and accumulated surplus. No fran 
chise tax shall be imposed upon any such company. 
A dog tax is levied and collected in connection with the prop 
erty tax. Persons keeping one dog above the age of 6 months pay 
a tax of 50 cents, and for each additional dog, $1. This law applies 
to all taxing districts of the state except cities. 
c. Equalization.—Since 1891 the state has exercised 
a very extensive control over the assessment made by 
the local assessors. This control, since 1905, is exer 
cised by the state board of equalization, through the 
county boards of taxation. The county board is a 
body organized expressly to aid the state board in 
equalizing taxes. 
The assessors on completing their lists have to 
attend personally before the county board for revision 
and correction. The county board also hears appeals 
by taxpayers and acts as a board of review. The 
decisions of the county boards are subject to appeal 
to the state board. The county boards have power 
to compel the attendance of witnesses and may report 
inefficient or incompetent assessors to the state board, 
which has power of dismissal. They exercise the 
power of revision formerly vested in the district com 
missioners of appeal and in the old county boards of 
equalization. The changes made in the lists for the 
purposes of equalization take effect in the original 
lists, so that there is but one final list, or tax roll, for 
all purposes of taxation. 
2. Rate— 
The governing body of every taxing district in each 
county in the state reports to the county board of 
taxation of their respective counties the amount to be 
raised for state (if any), state school, county, school 
district, and local purposes, and may add 10 per cent 
thereto for contingencies. In like manner the “board 
of chosen freeholders” in each county reports the 
amount to be raised for county purposes. The county 
board of taxation then computes the tax rates neces 
sary in each district to raise the sum required, on the 
basis of the assessed valuation as equalized. 
The general tax law of 1905 provides a limit for all purposes, 
exclusive of the state school tax, of $1.70 in cities having over 50,000 
inhabitants and of $1.50 in other taxing districts. Subsequent laws 
provide for a gradual reduction of rates in all counties where the 
aggregate rate, including the state school tax, is over $2. The 
limitations imposed upon the tax rate in any district shall not apply 
to the tax rate required to raise the state tax, the state school tax, to 
pay judgments against the taxing districts, or to pay the cost of 
constructing and maintaining any sewage system in any borough 
which may be in addition to the limited rate. This legislation 
appears to be intended to prevent an increase in the actual burden 
of taxation which might have resulted, if the old rates had been con 
tinued, from the increase in the assessed valuation brought about 
by the action of the state board of equalization and by the county 
board of taxation. 
3. Collection— 
Taxes are collected by the collector of each, taxing 
district. They are due the 1st day of October, and 
delinquent the 20th of December. The penalty for 
delinquency is 7 per cent, unless the governing body of 
the taxing district fixes a higher rate, but is not to ex 
ceed 12 per cent. Taxes on personal property are col 
lectible by distress and sale immediately after Decem 
ber 20, and, if no goods and chattels are found to seize, 
the delinquent may be imprisoned. Real estate taxes, 
if delinquent, become a lien on December 20 and war 
rant for the sale issues the following July. 
The taxes on real estate may be collected from the tenant or 
other person in possession, who in turn may recover from the land 
lord. The taxes on unimproved or untenanted lands may be col 
lected by seizure and sale of timber, wood, herbage, or other vendi 
bles. County taxes, together with the state school tax and the 
state tax, if any, are paid by the district collectors to the county 
collectors, and the state taxes are remitted by the county collectors 
to the treasurer of the state. 
B. POLL TAXES. 
The poll tax is not used to supply state revenue. 
C. THE INHERITANCE TAX. 
A tax is imposed on the transfer of any property, 
real or personal, of the value of $500 or over, or of any 
interest therein or income therefrom, in trust or other 
wise, to persons or corporations, in the following cases: 
(1) When the transfer is, by will or intestate laws of this state, 
of property from a person dying seized thereof while a resident of 
the state.