§ 34:1B-400 — Tax credit eligibility, certifications, capital investment, employment requirements.

7. a. Upon completion of the capital investment and employment requirements of the program, an eligible business shall submit to the authority certifications evidencing that the eligible business has satisfied the conditions relating to the capital investment and employment requirements of the project agreement with supporting evidence satisfactory to the authority. The chief executive officer of the business, or an equivalent officer, shall certify that all factual representations made by the business to the authority pursuant to this subsection are true under the penalty of perjury. b. (1) In accordance with the project agreement, beginning upon the receipt of occupancy permits for any portion of the project, or upon any other event evidencing project completion as set forth in the project agreement, an eligible business shall be allowed a tax credit in an amount determined pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection. No more than the amount of tax credits equal to the total credit amount awarded under the program divided by the duration of the eligibility period in years may be taken in any tax period. (2) The amount of the tax credit allowed under the program to an eligible business shall be the lesser of: (a) the product of 0.1 percent of the eligible business's total capital investment multiplied by the number of new full-time jobs; (b) 25 percent of the eligible business's total capital investment; or (c) $250,000,000. c. (1) An eligible business which is awarded tax credits under the program shall submit annually, no later than the date indicated in the project agreement, commencing in the year in which the grant of tax credits is issued and for the remainder of the commitment period, a report that indicates that the eligible business continues to maintain the number of new full-time jobs, and the salaries thereof, specified in the project agreement. As part of the annual report required pursuant to this subsection, an eligible business shall provide to the authority a copy of its applicable New Jersey tax return showing business income and withholdings as a condition of its continuation in the program, and the quarterly wage report required under R.S.43:21-14 submitted to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, together with an annual payroll report showing: the new full-time jobs which were created in accordance with the project agreement and the new full-time jobs created during each subsequent year of the commitment period. The failure of an eligible business to submit to the authority a copy of its annual payroll report or submit the quarterly wage report in accordance with the provisions of this subsection during the eligibility period shall result in the forfeiture of the award for that year. An eligible business shall explain, in the reports required by this subsection, the reason for any discrepancies between the annual payroll report submitted by the eligible business and the quarterly wage report. The chief executive officer of the eligible business, or an equivalent officer, shall certify that the information provided pursuant to this paragraph is true under the penalty of perjury. Claims, records, or statements submitted by an eligible business to the authority in order to receive tax credits shall not be considered claims, records, or statements made in connection with State tax laws. (2) Upon receipt and review of each report submitted during the eligibility period, the authority shall provide to the eligible business and the director a certificate of compliance indicating the amount of tax credits that the eligible business may apply against its tax liability. The authority shall pro rate the tax credit for the first and last years of the eligibility period based on the number of full months the project was certified in the year the eligible business first certifies. d. (1) Upon receipt by the director of the certificate of compliance, the director shall allow the eligible business a tax credit. The eligible business may apply the credit allowed by the director against the eligible business's tax liability for the tax period in which the director allowed the tax credit, or may carry forward the credit for use by the eligible business in any of the next 10 successive tax periods, which credit shall expire thereafter. (2) The amount of credit allowed may be applied against the tax liability otherwise due pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5), sections 2 and 3 of P.L.1945, c.132 (C.54:18A-2 and C.54:18A-3), section 1 of P.L.1950, c.231 (C.17:32-15), or N.J.S.17B:23-5. (3) The director shall prescribe the order of priority of the application of the credit allowed under this section and any other credits allowed by law against the tax imposed under section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5). The amount of a credit applied under this section against the tax imposed pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5) for a privilege period, together with any other credits allowed by law, shall not reduce the tax liability to an amount less than the statutory minimum provided in subsection (e) of section 5 of P.L.1945, c.162 (C.54:10A-5). e. An eligible business shall forfeit the credit amount for any tax period for which the eligible business's documentation remains uncertified as of the date for certification indicated in the project agreement, although credit amounts for the remainder of the years of the eligibility period shall remain available to the eligible business. f. If, in any tax period, the number of new employees in eligible positions, or the salaries thereof, drops below 80 percent of the number of new employees in eligible positions specified in the project agreement or required as a condition of program eligibility pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2024, c.49 (C.34:1B-397), whichever is greater, then the eligible business shall forfeit its tax credit amount for that tax period and each subsequent tax period, until the first tax period for which documentation demonstrating the restoration of the number of new employees in eligible positions, or the salaries thereof, to 80 percent of the number specified in the project agreement or required as a condition of program eligibility pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2024, c.49 (C.34:1B-397), whichever is greater, is reviewed and approved by the authority. L.2024, c.49, s.7.