Month: January 2024

Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP (MSW) is currently seeking to hire an Associate in the Firm’s Land Use, Zoning, and Redevelopment practice group. The ideal candidate will possess the following:

• 1 to 5 years of experience as a land use, zoning, and redevelopment attorney.
• Experience preparing and filing land use applications throughout the State of New Jersey.
• Admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey (required).
• Ability and desire to work one-on-one with clients.

If interested, please send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to cmurphy@murphyllp.com.

Critical tax appeal deadlines are quickly approaching, and commercial property owners need to be prepared to file tax appeals for 2024 or defend against increase cases to get much needed property tax relief. The Property Tax Appeal Group at Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP have already begun obtaining taxpayers property tax relief for 2024 and are currently providing free consultation to property owners considering an appeal this year. Failure to meet the important tax appeal filing deadlines may completely bar your right to file a property tax appeal this year. Below is an overview of the strict filing deadlines and process.

Notice of Assessment – February 1, 2024

Taxpayers typically receive the Notice of Assessment by the first week of February. The Notice of Assessment will contain important information regarding your assessment. It lists the 2024 assessment for your property, the prior year’s assessment, and the prior year’s taxes. However, it does not include the taxes due for 2024 based on the new tax assessment. Importantly, you will not know the taxes you owe for 2024 until the third quarter of 2024, after the deadline to appeal. The decision to appeal is based solely on the assessment and its relationship to market value, not on the amount of taxes due.

Appeal Deadline – April 1, 2024

After receiving your Notice of Assessment, there is a very small window of time to consider whether to file an appeal. Unless the municipality has undergone a municipal-wide revaluation or reassessment, the strict deadline for taxpayers to file an appeal the later of April 1, 2024, or 45 days from the date the bulk mailing of the Notice of Assessments is completed, except for appeals to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation. Filing deadlines are strictly enforced. Failure to meet the filing deadline may completely bar your right to appeal your assessment for 2024 regardless of the unfairness of your assessment and tax burden.

Revaluation Deadline – May 1, 2024

The deadline to file an appeal for municipalities that have undergone a municipal-wide revaluation or reassessment is the later of May 1, 2024, or 45 days from the date the bulk mailing of the Notice of Assessments is completed. It is critical to have a professional review your new assessment after a revaluation to determine if the new assessment is correct. Notable municipalities that have undergone a revaluation for 2024 are:

• Union County: City of Elizabeth
• Hudson County: City of Union City
• Essex County: Irvington, Maplewood, Roseland, South Orange
• Bergen County: Bogota, Teaneck
• Middlesex County: Piscataway, Dunellen
• Morris County: Township of Morristown

Where to file

If the assessment is over $1,000,000, the taxpayer may file an appeal in either the Tax Court of New Jersey or the County Board of Taxation of the county where the property is located. If the assessment is $1,000,000 or less, the taxpayer must file with the County Board of Taxation.

Increase Cases

The Tax Appeal Group continues to defend against increase cases filed by the municipalities seeking to increase assessments. Increase cases have become commonplace in recent years, in particular in municipalities such as Newark, Jersey City, Linden, and Elizabeth. In many cases, municipalities are seeking to more than double the assessment on these properties. It has also become common for assessors to aggressively increase assessments after sales or upon development approvals. Taxpayers need to be on alert for these significant, and often unexpected, increases.

Deciding whether to appeal

Deciding whether to file a property tax appeal requires careful analysis and consideration of your tax assessment, as adjusted by the applicable county equalization ratio, and its fairness in relationship to the true market value of the property. Importantly, in New Jersey, a municipality has the right to file a counterclaim to seek to increase your assessment if it determines you are under assessed. Therefore, failure to properly evaluate your case prior to filing may prove costly. It is vital to use experienced legal counsel to review your assessment to determine the risks and benefits prior to filing an appeal in order to understand the tax relief available and to avoid an unwanted tax increase. As market and property conditions fluctuate each year, it is vital to reexamine your property on an annual basis for eligibility for a tax appeal.

Consultation

To determine whether your property may be eligible for an appeal, the experienced team at Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP is ready to provide a complimentary evaluation of your property. If we determine that an appeal will be beneficial, we will recommend a strategy to reduce your tax burden and can file and pursue your appeal. As a dedicated commercial real estate firm, our team has invaluable insight into the real estate market and has successfully litigated the value of virtually all property types. Our team also has considerable experience advising on tax exemptions, or other tax incentive programs, that may be available to reduce the property tax burden outside of the appeal process. Our experience and deep broad-based knowledge allow us to consider all options that may be available to potentially reduce your tax burden.

For additional information concerning our property tax appeal services, or to request an evaluation of your property, please contact:

THOMAS S. DOLAN
Partner – Property Tax Exemption, Abatements and Appeals Practice Leader
(973) 705-7412
Email: tdolan@murphyllp.com

On January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) officially took effect. Pursuant to the CTA, most companies are now required to disclose beneficial ownership information for any person or entity owning a 25% or more direct or indirect interest in a company (a “Beneficial Owner”), as well as information identifying all executive decision makers and/or those parties having substantial control over the company, to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) of the United States Department of Treasury. Reporting is done through FinCen’s secure website, https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/boir.

Companies required to comply with the CTA include limited liability companies, corporations, limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships and other entities formed by filing with the Secretary of State, State Treasurer or other registrars of business entities in the jurisdiction of formation.

Certain companies are exempt from reporting requirements, such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, public utilities, most non-profit corporations, public companies, and large operating companies (companies employing 20 or more full time employees, having a physical office located in the United States and having filed a U.S. federal tax return reporting more than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or sales).

Each company that is required to report to FinCen (a “Reporting Company”) must disclose its full legal name (including any trade names or “doing business as” names), business address, employer identification number and jurisdiction of formation. Each Beneficial Owner, as well as the party submitting the report on behalf of a Reporting Company (an “Applicant”), must provide its full legal name, home address, date of birth and the issuing jurisdiction and identification number of a current U.S. passport, military identification card or driver’s license, along with a copy of such identification (“BOI Information”). Individuals desiring privacy, and those individuals who hold beneficial ownership interests in multiple entities, may obtain a FinCen Identifier, which may be reported in lieu of providing personal BOI Information.

The Applicant, on behalf of its Reporting Company, will submit an online beneficial ownership information report containing the relevant information through FinCen’s website. It should be noted that BOI Information is not accessible by the general public.

Ongoing compliance with the CTA is mandatory for the duration of the existence of the Reporting Company. Reporting Companies are required to report any changes in ownership interests, management, home or business addresses or CTA non-applicability (i.e., termination, dissolution, name change or merger or consolidation of an entity) within thirty (30) days of an event that triggers reporting or the date upon which they become aware of such change.

Reporting Companies formed prior to 2024 have until December 31, 2024 to comply with the CTA. For all Reporting Companies formed during 2024, filings are required to be submitted within ninety (90) days from the date of filing of its organizational document or charter. In 2025, new Reporting Companies will have only thirty (30) days to file their reports with FinCen.

Failure to comply with the CTA may result in civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that a violation remains uncured, fines of up to $10,000 and possible imprisonment not to exceed two years.

For more information, or if you require assistance in determining whether you are required to comply with the CTA, please contact Charlie Wilkes at (973) 705-7422 (email: cwilkes@murphyllp.com) or Holly Burke at (973) 315-5577 (email: hburke@murphyllp.com).