Which NJ GIT/REP form does the county clerk need at your closing?
Most sellers file the GIT/REP-3.
That is the residency certification, and it covers anyone who lived in New Jersey on closing day plus anyone who fits one of its sixteen exemption boxes. Sellers who live elsewhere and owe an estimated payment file the GIT/REP-1 instead. Three other forms handle prepayment, waivers, and corrected deeds.
- GIT/REP stands for
- Gross Income Tax Required Estimated Payment
- Who files
- Every owner on the deed, at closing
- Why it matters
- The clerk cannot record the deed without it
- Too late after recording
- GIT/REP-4 waiver. Use Form A-3128
The five GIT/REP tax forms from the State of New Jersey.
Start here and match your own situation to a row. Most closings only ever involve the first or the third. These are the 2025 revisions, which replaced the 2024 versions in August 2025.
| Form | Who files it | What it does | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| GIT/REP-1 | Seller who is not a NJ resident and owes the payment | Declares the gain and carries the estimated payment to the county clerk | At closing |
| GIT/REP-2 | Non-resident seller who wants to pay in advance | Receipt proving you already paid at a Regional Information Center | Before closing |
| GIT/REP-3 | NJ residents, and non-residents who qualify for an exemption | Certifies residency or an exemption, so nothing is paid at the table | At closing |
| GIT/REP-4 | Sellers with a loss, a bankruptcy, or genuine hardship | Waives the filing and payment requirement | Before the deed records only |
| GIT/REP-4A | Anyone recording a corrective deed | Covers a typo or description fix with no change in consideration | At recording |
GIT/REP-3 is how most sellers qualify for an exemption.
Box 1 is for New Jersey residents, and it turns on where you lived at closing rather than where you live now. Sell in April, record in May, move to Pennsylvania in June, and Box 1 still holds.
Boxes 2 through 16 are open to non-residents. Box 2 is the federal principal residence exclusion under Section 121. Box 5 covers corporations, partnerships, LLCs, S corps, and business trusts. Box 7a and 7b handle 1031 exchanges.
Citizenship has no bearing on any of this. A seller without a Social Security number uses an ITIN, or attaches a pro forma Form W-7 to the GIT/REP-1.
The GIT/REP-2 is worthless without a raised seal.
Prepaying is allowed. You bring the GIT/REP-1 and your payment to one of the Division's Regional Information Centers, and staff certify the GIT/REP-2 on the spot.
The certification is a physical raised seal. A GIT/REP-2 without it is not valid, and the county will not accept it.
Prepaying is worth the trip when a seller is waiting on an ITIN, because it takes that delay off the closing timeline.
Boxes 7a and 7b: the 1031 exchange trap.
A fully deferred exchange is clean. A partial exchange is where closings go sideways, because the non-like-kind property you receive is still taxable and New Jersey wants its estimate on that portion.
You get two ways to handle it:
- File a GIT/REP-1 alongside the GIT/REP-3, show the greater of the consideration or the fair market value of the non-like-kind property, and pay 2% of the non-exempt amount at recording. Nothing further is owed on that portion.
- File only the GIT/REP-3 at recording, then pay the state afterward online or with Form NJ-1040-ES.
Either way the numbers have to reconcile. Consideration on the RTF-1 must equal the exempt and non-exempt amounts added together across the GIT/REP-3 and GIT/REP-1. A mismatch is a rejected recording. We handle this with your qualified intermediary.
When property being sold or transferred needs no form.
Two recordings skip the whole process. A sheriff's deed in a foreclosure sale needs no GIT/REP form and no payment. A bankruptcy trustee's deed is treated the same way.
Outside those, the rule is firm. County recording officers are prohibited from accepting a deed without the appropriate form and any payment due.
Filed the wrong one? Here is the fix.
Sending the GIT/REP-1 and payment straight to the Division rather than prepaying at a Regional Information Center is a common mix-up. It is recoverable.
Bring the completed GIT/REP-2 to a Regional Information Center with a copy of the deed, the settlement statement or closing disclosure, the signed GIT/REP-1, a copy of the cancelled check, and a power of attorney if someone is acting for you. Staff verify the payment and apply the seal.
If the deed is already recorded and too much was withheld, the waiver route is closed. Form A-3128 goes to the Taxpayer Accounting Branch, or you claim it on the NJ-1040NR. More on the withholding itself.
Who to call when the closing is next week.
Title companies and closing attorneys handle these forms every day, and they are good at the mechanics. What they will not do is tell you whether a different structure would have cost you less, or how the payment carries onto your income tax return with the realty transfer fee alongside it.
Simon Klein has worked with more than 250 real estate investors and coordinates the GIT/REP paperwork with closing attorneys as part of that work. Bring him in while the deal is still in contract and the form becomes an administrative step rather than a surprise.
What people ask next.
- What is a GIT/REP-3 form?
- It is the Seller's Residency Certification/Exemption. Filing it tells the county clerk you owe no estimated payment at closing, either because you are a New Jersey resident or because one of the sixteen exemption boxes applies to you.
- What does GIT/REP stand for?
- Gross Income Tax Required Estimated Payment. The form's job is to establish whether a payment is due before the deed can be recorded.
- Who fills out the GIT/REP form, the buyer or the seller?
- The seller, or an authorized representative. Every owner on the deed files one, including anyone holding life estate rights, and the form shows each owner's percentage. A married couple counts as one owner.
- What is the difference between GIT/REP-4 and GIT/REP-4A?
- GIT/REP-4 is a waiver of the filing and payment requirement, for situations like a capital loss, a bankruptcy, or hardship. GIT/REP-4A covers a corrective deed that fixes a typo or a description with no change in consideration.
- Can I still get a waiver after the deed is recorded?
- No. Waiver requests on recorded deeds are rejected. At that point the only route is Form A-3128, the refund claim.
- Which box do I check for a 1031 exchange?
- Box 7a or 7b, depending on whether the exchange is fully or partially exempt. A partial exchange means the boot is still taxable, and you choose between two payment methods for that portion.
Where people go from here.
What the payment actually is, how it is calculated, and how to get it back.
Structuring the exchange so Box 7a or 7b is straightforward.
What you owe once the estimate is settled against the real number.
- NJ Division of Taxation, TB-57(R): Estimated Gross Income Tax Payment Requirements on Sales of New Jersey Real Property by Nonresidents (rev. June 15, 2026)
- NJ Division of Taxation, FAQs on GIT Forms Requirements for Sale/Transfer of Real Property
- NJ Division of Taxation, GIT/REP-3 Seller's Residency Certification/Exemption
- NJ Division of Taxation, GIT/REP-1 Nonresident Seller's Tax Declaration
This page explains how the rules generally work. It is not tax advice for your situation. Rates and thresholds change. Ask Simon before you sign anything.
Not sure which form applies to your sale? Ask Simon.
Book a focused conversation. Simon will review your situation and lay out the path forward, clearly, in plain English.