Speaker, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, "Getting to Closing: Bulk Sales, RTF and Controlling Interest Tax for Real Estate, Corporate and Tax Lawyers," New Brunswick, NJ

• Is the transfer of real estate that is used for income/business purposes subject to the bulk sale law?
• Is the sale of vacant land a bulk sale transfer?
• Is a short sale of realty subject to bulk sale?
• Is bulk sale notice required if an individual is selling a one or two family rental property?

The bulk sales law (N.J.S.A. 54:50-38) protects purchasers from inheriting a tax debt from the seller of business assets when the sale is outside the normal course of business. Bulk sales include the sale of real, tangible property such as inventory or materials and intangible assets like goodwill. However, this seemingly straight-forward statute presents many issues, including determining whether an entity is a business, whether something should be characterized as a business asset, and what type and amount of tax that needs to be collected. It is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the State of a bulk sale. If you represent a purchaser of a property that falls under the bulk sales law, it is important that you know what you need to do to protect your client.