New Jersey Tax Court Upholds Realty Transfer Fee on Real Property Transfer, Dismisses Refund Claim

The New Jersey Tax Court March 25 granted summary judgment in favor of the Division of Taxation and dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint seeking a refund of a one percent realty transfer fee paid on the transfer of a property containing a farmhouse. The Court found that the relevant statutory language imposes the one percent fee on transfers of “farm property (regular)” that include “a building or structure intended or suited for residential use”, which the farmhouse at issue satisfied at the time of transfer, regardless of the plaintiff’s intent to demolish it. [Matrix Bordentown, Lot 2, LLC v. Dir., Div. ...