Allows gross income tax deduction for surviving spouses of certain veterans.

This New Jersey bill (S 643) creates a $3,000 annual deduction against gross income tax for surviving spouses of veterans who died while on active duty, were honorably discharged, or were released under honorable circumstances from active duty. It directly affects widows and widowers who were married to qualifying veterans at the time of death and have not remarried. The deduction is added to New Jersey’s tax code (amending N.J.S.54A:3-1) as a new personal exemption for these surviving spouses. The bill does not change existing tax benefits for veterans themselves but extends similar relief to their spouses after the veteran’s death.