Updated October 24, 2026. Quick answer: Line 26 of the 2025 NJ-1040 is the catch-all income line. The booklet lists the types it collects: prizes and awards, income in respect of a decedent, income from estates and trusts, scholarships and fellowship grants, an employer’s residence value or allowance, and any other taxable income with no line of its own. Several of them ask for an enclosure with the return.
What this line asks
The form labels line 26 as other income with the note to enclose documents. The booklet opens its instruction with “Include the following income on this line.” and a reminder: “See each type of income for required enclosures.”
The last item on the booklet’s list is a general rule for anything not listed: “Use this line for any other taxable income for which a place has not been provided somewhere else on the return.”
Who it applies to
The booklet prints no age, filing status or income cap for line 26. Each type of income carries its own conditions, shown in the table below. If you are a retiree who receives a distribution from a trust, see New Jersey trust income and New Jersey dividends and interest for how those payments are sorted by type.
What the instructions say to enter
The booklet takes each type of income in turn, and the table follows its order.
| Type of income | What the booklet says |
|---|---|
| Prizes and awards | “Any prize won in a raffle, drawing, TV show, radio show, contest, or any other event is taxable and must be reported on this line.” “Include any goods or services as income at fair market value.” |
| Income in respect of a decedent | “you must report it on your own return when you receive it.” “Enclose a listing of the income.” |
| Estates and trusts | “include the Total Distribution from Schedule NJK-1, Form NJ-1041 on this line.” |
| No NJK-1 received | “adjust the income listed on the federal K-1 to reflect New Jersey tax law, then net the adjusted amounts and include the total on line 26.” |
| Estate and trust enclosure | “Enclose Schedule NJK-1 (or federal Schedule K-1) with your return.” |
| Grantor trust | “If you have income from a grantor trust that is taxable for New Jersey purposes, do not include it on this line.” |
| Scholarships and fellowships | “This type of income is taxable unless the scholarship or grant meets all of the following conditions:” |
| Employer residence | “If an employer provides you with a residence, enter either the rental value or the rental allowance paid by the employer.” |
| Other | “Use this line for any other taxable income for which a place has not been provided somewhere else on the return.” |
For estates and trusts the booklet adds a pointer: “For more information on estates and trusts, including grantor trusts, see GIT-12, Estates and Trusts.”
The figures the line prints
The booklet prints no dollar limit, percentage or age for line 26. It does print three conditions for scholarships and fellowship grants, the first of which reads “The primary purpose of the grant is to further the recipient’s education or training;” and three conditions for an employer’s residence, the first of which reads “The lodging is provided on the business premises of your employer;” For the employer residence the booklet says the value or allowance “should not be reported if it meets all of the following conditions:”
Where the result goes next
The total from line 26 is added on line 27. The booklet’s instruction for that line is “Add lines 15 through 26 (do not include lines 16b and 20b) and enter the total.” Line 26 flows into NJ-1040 line 27. The federal side of this kind of income is covered in Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
Part-year residents
The booklet prints no separate part-year paragraph for line 26. The nearby instruction for line 25 does print one, and the line 26 passage does not.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 NJ-1040 New Jersey Resident Return booklet, the current file the New Jersey Division of Taxation served on 2026-10-24. Check the edition printed on your own form and use that edition’s line numbers.
Common mistakes
- Putting grantor trust income on line 26. The booklet says “If you have income from a grantor trust that is taxable for New Jersey purposes, do not include it on this line.”
- Skipping a prize because it was not cash. The booklet says “Include any goods or services as income at fair market value.”
- Sending the return without the paperwork for an estate or trust. The booklet says “Enclose Schedule NJK-1 (or federal Schedule K-1) with your return.”
Related: New Jersey retirement taxes, New Jersey trust income, New Jersey dividends and interest, and Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
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- 2025 NJ-1040 New Jersey Resident Return booklet (instructions and forms), New Jersey Division of Taxation: www.nj.gov
- 2025 Form NJ-1040 New Jersey Resident Income Tax Return, New Jersey Division of Taxation: www.nj.gov
Read from the state revenue documents linked above on October 24, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the state revenue department is the right place to confirm anything consequential.