Members of the business community and the general public who want help with online business services can watch a new series of videos from the Treasury. The videos offer guidance on a range of business related subjects, ranging from business formation through business status and certification reporting.

Banking corporations and financial business corporations that are separate filers will soon need to use Form CBT-100 to file their returns. Form BFC-1 is being discontinued. The discontinuation of Form BFC-1 does not impact combined filers.

Businesses in New Jersey must comply with rules and regulations, but under a new law that takes effect on June 19th, 2023, state agencies can suspend enforcement of penalties on certain first-time violations at their discretion. Penalties may be suspended only if the first-time violation doesn’t impact public welfare, cause employees to lose income or benefits, or present the risk of environmental harm. The temporary waiver provided under this new law is available to businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees and subject to several important exceptions, including:

1. Violations of a criminal nature
2. Violations that were intentional or knowing acts
3. Violations that are grounds for the suspension or revocation of the owner’s authority to operate the business
4. Violations that are grounds for the business to be disqualified from bidding for State contracts
5. Violations of any State employment or labor-related law
6. Violations that are grounds for the issuance of a stop-work order
7. Violations of federal law that require the State to impose a penalty

If none of these apply to the first-time violation, agencies have the discretion to give the cited business up to 60 days to “cure,” or resolve, the violation. Failure to cure or resolve the violation will result in the business being assessed all fines and penalties available under the law upon the expiration of the cure period.

If your business has been cited for a first-time violation and you believe that it is eligible for a cure, contact the agency that issued the violation. State agencies will report annually on how they are using this discretionary authority.

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Teams of would-be entrepreneurs can apply to receive grants of up to $400,000 and mentorship through a competitive program: New Jersey Innovation Fellows.

Successful applicants can use grant funds as income replacement while they pursue unique startup business ventures during the two-year ideation and formation periods of their businesses. Applications are now due by June 19th, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.

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A new law is making changes to records keeping and reporting requirements for temporary help service firms and for the client companies that employ their workers. The law covers many people in temporary work assignments, with some exceptions. Two of these requirements are now in effect, as of May 7th, 2023. 

• These firms must now provide workers with a statement that contains certain required information in English as well as the language identified by the worker as their primary language.
• These firms and their clients may not retaliate, through discharge or in any other manner, against any worker who exercises their rights under this law.

The remaining key requirements take effect on August 5th, 2023:

• Temporary help service firms must be certified by the Division of Consumer Affairs within the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety.
• These firms must create certain records relating to their temporary workers and must keep these records for six years from their date of creation.
• These firms and their clients may not charge temporary workers for their transportation to or from a worksite, with certain exceptions.
• These firms may not obstruct their workers’ rights to seek employment elsewhere, including with their clients, and may not inhibit their clients from hiring those workers.
• Employers may not enter into a contract for temporary help services with a company that is not certified by the Division of Consumer Affairs. Employers are responsible for verifying the registration status of a temporary help service firm.

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Learn strategies that developers use to secure capital to acquire and prepare property for residential and commercial development projects by attending “Raising Capital for Pre-development & Land Acquisition,” a workshop sponsored by the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA). The workshop will be held in Hynes Hall at Kean University in Union on May 25th, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Tuition is $75.00.

Starting on June 1st, 2023, employers hiring teenagers must register online to receive a unique 8-digit code and share that code with every minor they intend to hire. The potential hire can then visit the website to create an account and start their working papers application, entering the employer's unique code. Caregivers must review the details of the job and provide proof of the minor’s age. The NJ Department of Labor will notify the business once the application is approved.

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The Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (C-PACE) will provide a new form of financing to New Jersey commercial property owners for renewable energy, energy efficiency, water conservation, and certain types of resiliency-related improvements. The public is encouraged to submit feedback on the draft C-PACE guidelines via email to gardenstatepace@njeda.com.

Subject matter experts on clean energy technologies and other interested stakeholders can inform New Jersey’s transition to a clean energy economy by submitting responses to a request for information (RFI) from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).

The NJEDA wants to gather information about the key opportunities and barriers around the use of clean hydrogen technologies in New Jersey. They also want input on potential projects or solutions that demonstrate best opportunities for market adoption and development of a broader ecosystem for the production and use of clean hydrogen.

Questions about the RFI must be submitted via email to cleanhydrogen@njeda.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 8th, 2023. Responses are due by May 30th, 2023.

Technology or biotechnology companies with fewer than 225 U.S. employees may apply to sell a percentage of their net operating losses and unused research and development tax credits to unrelated, profitable corporations for cash through the Net Operating Loss (NOL) Program. The net operating losses and R&D tax credits may be sold for at least 80% of their value, up to a maximum lifetime benefit of $20 million per business.

The 2023 submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on June 30th, 2023.

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