34:1B-187 Submission of project application; eligibility.

21. a. A business seeking to participate in the sales and use tax exemption certificate program established pursuant to sections 19 through 22 of P.L.2004, c.65 (C.34:1B-185 through C.34:1B-188) shall submit a project application to the New Jersey Commerce Commission in such form as required by the New Jersey Commerce Commission.

b. The location for the project shall be situated in designated Planning Area 1 or 2, as defined in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan adopted by the State Planning Commission; provided however, that a business project involving the renovation or expansion of an existing facility that is not located in designated Planning Area 1 or 2 may be eligible to participate in the program, at the determination of the New Jersey Commerce Commission, if all other applicable criteria are satisfied.

A business located in an urban enterprise zone designated pursuant to the "New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Act," P.L.1983, c.303 (C.52:27H-60 et al.) as of the effective date of this section shall not be eligible to participate in this program if the relocation project is from a facility within the urban enterprise zone to a facility outside an urban enterprise zone; provided however, that if the relocation is to a facility already owned or leased by the same business and that business already employs at least the same number of persons as those being relocated from the urban enterprise zone, it may be eligible to apply.

c. To be eligible to apply for the sales and use tax exemption certificate program, a business shall have operated continuously in this State, in whole or in part, in its current form or as a predecessor entity, for at least 10 years prior to filing an application and shall satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

(1) the business has 1,000 or more full-time employees in the State and the project involves relocating 500 or more full-time employees into a new business location or locations;

(2) the business is a life sciences business or a manufacturing facility and the project is: constructing one or more new research and development facilities, constructing one or more new manufacturing facilities in this State, or relocating to a new headquarters in this State that will employ 250 or more full-time employees;

(3) the business is a life sciences business or a manufacturing business and the project is constructing a new, or substantially rehabilitating a vacant, property that will separately or collectively:

(a) be predominately a new research and development facility;

(b) be predominately a new manufacturing facility;

(c) house the headquarters of the business; or

(d) separately or collectively be a combination of subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c);

provided, that the new or substantially rehabilitated facility will house a minimum of 250 full-time employees. For the purposes of this subparagraph, "predominantly" means a majority of the employees housed in the new facility are engaged in that activity, or a majority of the square footage of the new facility is used in that activity; or a majority of the total value of the investment made will be employed in that activity; or other measures of activity as may be determined by the New Jersey Commerce Commission that demonstrate that a critical concentration of research and development, manufacturing, or both, will occur at the new facility; or

(4) the business is, at the time of enactment of this section, currently receiving a structured finance special guarantee pursuant to N.J.A.C.19:31-2.1(c)3.ii(5) for the project.

d. For the purposes of determining a number of full-time employees pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the full-time employees of the members of a "controlled group of corporations" as defined pursuant to section 1563 of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. s.1563, shall be considered the employees of a single employer.

e. A project may be completed in up to two phases provided that it will be the national headquarters of a life sciences or manufacturing company, and will include a significant research and development facility, a significant manufacturing facility, or combination thereof if: (1) the first completed phase will house at least 200 full-time employees and the second phase will house at least 100 additional employees; and (2) the project is pre-approved for phases and that all phases are completed within 30 months of project approval.

f. Upon approval of a project, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Commerce Commission shall notify the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury of the terms and conditions of the project approval and the director shall issue a certificate of exemption pursuant to the terms and conditions of the project approval. In general, the sales and use tax exemption certificate provided by sections 19 through 22 of P.L.2004, c.65 (C.34:1B-185 through C.34:1B-188) should not apply to purchases initiated by the business after the date that the temporary certificate of occupancy is issued, or in cases where no temporary certificate of occupancy is issued should not apply to purchases initiated by the business more than one year from the project commencement date; however, the duration of the certificate of exemption shall be pursuant to the terms and conditions of the project approval.

L.2004, c.65, s.21; amended 2007, c.253, s.18.