On the tax year. The rate and threshold figures below come from New Jersey's published tax year 2025 schedule. The installment dates fall in the 2026 installment year. New Jersey has not released a 2026 tax-year rate table; when it does, this page will be updated.
Does New Jersey have a state income tax?
Yes. New Jersey taxes residents on their income and nonresidents on what they earn from New Jersey sources, and a self-employed filer reports net business profit on the NJ-1040 alongside any other income. The federal side of your bill is computed separately; the self-employment tax guide walks through it.
Your New Jersey obligation usually traces to one of two things:
- Residency. If New Jersey is home, your income is generally taxable and you file a New Jersey return.
- New Jersey–sourced work. If you live out of state but earn from New Jersey clients, only the income sourced to New Jersey is taxable — work performed there, or services tied to a New Jersey business.
New Jersey income tax rate for self-employed filers
For tax year 2025, New Jersey's top marginal rate is 10.75%. The top bracket begins once taxable income exceeds $1,000,000 — the top rate is the same for Table A (single filers and married persons filing separately) and Table B (married filing jointly, heads of household, and qualifying surviving spouses).
As with any progressive state tax, 10.75% is a marginal rate: it applies to your last dollars of income, not to all of it. Most freelancers are taxed well below it. Your net profit comes off Schedule C first — the Schedule C filing guide covers that step.
When you have to file and when you must prepay
New Jersey's filing threshold is low, and it is the detail most freelancers miss.
Whether you must file. New Jersey sets out the line plainly:
"Filers with income of $10,000 or less for the entire year (single filers, married persons filing separately, and estates and trusts), and $20,000 or less for the entire year (married couples filing jointly, heads of household, and surviving spouses) pay no tax."
Read it as a trigger. A single filer — or a married person filing separately — with income above $10,000 owes New Jersey tax and normally must file. A joint filer, head of household, or surviving spouse above $20,000 does. Because the line is low, a freelancer with a modest side income can cross it without expecting to.
A quick example. Sam, a Newark photographer, takes on one $12,000 freelance project on top of a salaried job. Because New Jersey's single-filer threshold is $10,000, that side income alone can push him to file a New Jersey return — where a state with a higher trigger might not.
When you must prepay. New Jersey requires estimated tax payments once you expect to owe more than $400 in state income tax after withholding and credits. The four installments are equal — unlike California's uneven 30 / 40 / 0 / 30 split — and you pay them with Form NJ-1040-ES.
If you operate through an entity. New Jersey offers the Business Alternative Income Tax (BAIT), an optional entity-level tax for pass-through entities, with rates of 5.675% / 6.52% / 9.12% / 10.9%. It is elective and sits at the entity level, separate from the individual income tax described above. (We do not cover other states' pass-through entity taxes, which are not verified here.)
New Jersey estimated tax due dates
New Jersey's estimated tax installments fall on the same quarterly cycle every year:
- April 15
- June 15
- September 15
- January 15 of the following year
These are annual-cycle dates, not single-year dates — if one lands on a weekend or a legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. Because the four payments are equal, you divide your expected liability across them rather than following an uneven schedule. The quarterly estimated tax guide covers the method, and the self-employment tax calculator will run your own numbers.
Local taxes
This page covers state-level taxes only. It does not cover any city, county, or district tax that may apply to you — verify locally. On 1099Hubs, New Jersey's income tax has no verified local income-tax regime; the only local income-tax layers covered anywhere in this cluster are New York City, Yonkers, the MCTMT, and San Francisco, each described on its own page.
For the other states in this cluster, start from the state tax hub.
Where these numbers come from
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — 2025 Tax Rate Schedules (Form 1040-XI) — the 10.75% top rate and its $1,000,000 starting point
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — gross income tax overview — the $10,000 / $20,000 filing thresholds
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — estimated tax — the $400 prepayment trigger and the quarterly schedule
- New Jersey Division of Taxation — BAIT/PTE — the optional entity-level tax and its rates
Tax year 2025 for rates and thresholds; 2026 for installment due dates. New Jersey's 2026 tax-year rate table is not yet published. Last verified September 2026.
Disclaimer — read before you rely on any number on this page.
The figures on this page are state- and tax-year specific. State income tax rates, deductions, estimated-tax thresholds, and registration rules change from year to year and differ by filing status, residency, and locality. Every figure here is cited to a primary state-government source for the stated tax year; the "last verified" date tells you how current that citation is. If a tax year is not stated, do not assume the figure applies to you.
This page is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice, and it does not create any professional relationship. It does not cover every local city or county tax that may apply to you. Your situation may differ.
Before you file or make any payment decision, confirm the current numbers directly with the state tax authority (and your locality, if applicable), or consult a qualified tax professional (CPA/EA). 1099hubs is not responsible for decisions made based on this page.