New Jersey Taxation

Online Resources

 * 1778-1832- County tax ratables, 1778-1832 [ie, 1744-ca.1889] (New Jersey) (scroll down to county needed/ click on camera to open)
 * 1862-1874 Assessment lists of the Federal Bureau of Internal Revenue, 1862-1866 at FamilySearch. Images only. (Districts listed below) (once on page scroll down find desired film, click on camera).

Why Use Tax Records
By studying several consecutive years of tax records you may determine when a young men came of age, when individuals moved in and out of a home, or when they died leaving heirs. Authorities determined wealth (real estate, or income) to be taxed. Taxes can be for polls, real and personal estate, or schools.

Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence.

County Level
The first tax was levied by the general assembly in 1668. As early as 1670, quitrents (annual property taxes) were paid by landowners to the proprietors. The most valuable collection of tax records is the tax ratables (lists of landowners and other taxables). The ratables list married couples, single men, and widows and indicate if they owned land. Approximate ages and relationships can sometimes be inferred. The ratables are arranged by county and township. There are some lists for 1773 to 1822 in varying degrees of completeness to 1822. This collection's primary value is to determine where someone lived during the period from 1773 to 1822. 

State Level

 * 1862-1866 Internal revenue assessment lists for New Jersey Internal revenue assessment lists were created into divisions called Districts, each county is put into a district. County names are arranged alphabetically within the division and then within months. The following is a list of counties placed in which district.  (knowing the district and county your ancestor lived in will make searching this years taxes list a little faster) (once on page once on page scroll down to district desired and click on camera to open)

U.S. Internal Revenue Assessment Lists. Three types of Reports: A=Annual; M=Monthly; S=Special Years and Reports may be different.

DISTRICT 1: Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem (collection on rolls T-1, T-7. T-15) DISTRICT 2: Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean (collection on rolls T-2, T-8, T-13) DISTRICT 3: Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, Warren (collection on rolls T-3, T-10, T-11) DISTRICT 4: Bergen, Morris, Passic, Sussex (collection on rolls T-4, T-12, T-15) DISTRICT 5: Essex, Husdon (collection on rolls T-5, T-6, T-15)

The following books index most of the lists:
 *  1772- 1822- Jackson, Ronald Vern. New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772- 1822. Four Volumes. Bountiful, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1981. FamilySearch Library also click on WorldCat for other locations of this book The index is missing all of Hunterdon County and most of the townships of Burlington and Middlesex counties.


 * 1773-1774; 1778-1780; 1784-1786- Stryker-Rodda, Kenn. Revolutionary census of New Jersey : an index, based on ratables, of the inhabitants of New Jersey during the period of the American Revolution. (Cottonport, Louisiana : Polyanthos, 1972). FamilySearch Library click on WorldCat for other locations This book indexes the ratables for 1773 to 1774, 1778 to 1780, and 1784 to 1786. The complete lists for these years were published serially, county by county, in The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey volumes 36-54 (May 1961-September 1979).


 * 1773-1889- New Jersey Periodicals Register of New Jersey county tax ratables, abstracts and exempt lists, 1773 to about 1889 This is an inventory of the tax lists which are available for 1773 to 1889: The only place to view these films for now is in Salt Lake Family History Center.



Tax Laws
Abraham Lincoln instituted the income tax in 1862, and on July 1, 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue (later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service). This act was intended to “provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay interest on the Public Debt.” Instituted in the height of the Civil War, the “Public Debt” at the time primarily consisted of war expenses. For the Southern States that were part of the Confederate side of the Civil War, once Union troops took over parts of the Southern States, income tax were instituted on them.
 * To learn more about this Collection click here
 * To learn more about the Civil War taxes click here

What history has shown us is that while property taxes are locally levied, there is significant state involvement with the amount of tax local political subdivisions can levy, how property assessments are conducted, and what services local taxing subdivisions must provide for their residents. This comes at a cost to state taxpayers, because the state has obligations it must fund as well, with a limited amount of state tax dollars.