Some owners who rent their homes at the Jersey Shore, and the vacationers who book them, will soon no longer be saddled with a controversial tax.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday night he will sign a bill into law repealing an 11.6 percent tax on short-term vacation rental properties that owners arrange directly themselves.
“The mom and pop who wants to rent out their place, we’ve concluded they shouldn’t be burdened by this,” Murphy said during his call-in show on News 12 New Jersey.
Murphy is returning from his Italian villa. Here are all the big decisions he now faces.
Here's a look at the key legislation in New Jersey waiting for Gov. Phil Murphy's signature or veto.
Murphy and his fellow Democrats who lead the state Legislature agreed to the tax as part of a larger state budget deal last summer.
It was meant to tax rentals booked through online marketplaces like Airbnb and VRBO the same way hotels are taxed.
But critics say the law inadvertently included rentals that are booked by word of mouth and through classified ads — which are popular at the Shore. Some said that has hurt local tourism because renters want to avoid the tax.
The measure Murphy is about to sign (A4814) is designed as a fix, exempting properties that owners themselves arrange to be rented. The tax will still apply to rentals booked through online marketplaces.
The bill is one of several big-ticket items awaiting the governor after a 13-day family vacation.
Until Thursday, though, Murphy had been coy about whether he’d sign or veto it. He said last month that he knows there has been “so anecdotal concern," and “I don’t make light of that.”
But he added there has also been “overwhelming evidence that this might be the best summer” the Shore has ever seen, with places “well-rented and sold out.”