How to Fill Out Form NHCT-12: New Hampshire Charitable Trust Annual Report

To fill out Form NHCT-12, the New Hampshire charitable trust annual report, you enter your organization’s identifying information, list every officer and director who served during the fiscal year, report revenue and expenses that match your IRS Form 990, attach the financial documents required for your revenue tier, have an authorized officer sign under oath, and submit the package with a $75 fee to the Charitable Trusts Unit by four months and 15 days after your fiscal year ends.

What to Gather Before You Open the Form

Pull these together first. Starting the form without them is the main reason filings stall or draw follow-up letters from the Charitable Trusts Unit.

Your federal Employer Identification Number.
Full legal names, titles, and current addresses for every officer and director who served during the fiscal year, including anyone who resigned partway through.
Your articles of incorporation or trust instrument, with the stated charitable purpose.
Total revenue, total expenses, and ending net assets for the fiscal year, broken down by source: public contributions, government grants, program service revenue, and investment income.
A completed IRS Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF for the same fiscal year. Do not include Schedule B (Schedule of Contributors); New Hampshire explicitly excludes it from the filing package.¹
Any additional financial statements your revenue tier requires (see below).
The $75 filing fee, payable by check to “State of New Hampshire” or online through the portal.

Which Financial Statements You Have to Attach

The attachments owed beyond the NHCT-12 itself depend on your fiscal year revenue:

Less than $50,000: file the NHCT-12 with Schedule A. (You file Form 990-N separately with the IRS; it does not go to New Hampshire.)²
$50,000 to $500,000: file the NHCT-12 plus a copy of your IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.²
$500,000 to $1,999,999: file the NHCT-12, your Form 990, and a financial statement prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The GAAP statement does not have to come from a CPA; internal preparation is acceptable as long as it follows GAAP standards.³
$2,000,000 or more: file the NHCT-12, your Form 990, and audited financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP by an independent certified public accountant.³

Private foundations file Form 990-PF rather than Form 990 and are not subject to the GAAP tiers above.¹

Working Through the Form

Download the current form from the Department of Justice website or open it directly in the online portal.⁴ The form moves through the sections in order.

Organizational Header

Enter the legal name as registered, your EIN, the mailing address, phone number, and the fiscal year start and end dates. If any of this has changed since your last filing, update it here. The Charitable Trusts Unit uses this section to match your report to your registration record.

Officers and Directors

List names, titles, and addresses for every officer and director who served during the reporting period. Include anyone who resigned mid-year. The state cross-references this roster when it reviews complaints or conducts audits, so accuracy matters.

Financial Information

This is the heart of the form. Enter total revenue, total expenses, and ending net assets for the fiscal year, then break revenue into contributions from the public, government grants, program service revenue, and investment income. These figures must match the ones on your Form 990 or 990-EZ. Mismatches between the NHCT-12 and the 990 are one of the most common triggers for follow-up inquiries, so reconcile the numbers before you submit.

Certification

An authorized officer or trustee signs under oath that the information is true and complete.⁵ Unsigned forms are not complete filings.

How to Submit and Pay

You can file online or on paper. The online portal, reached from the Department of Justice’s Charitable Trusts page, lets you upload all attachments and pay the $75 fee by card, which removes the need to mail a separate check.⁴ Save or print the confirmation the system generates. One technical note: Safari users have reported submission problems, and the Charitable Trusts Unit recommends Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

To file on paper, mail the completed NHCT-12, every required attachment, and a check for $75 payable to “State of New Hampshire” to the Charitable Trusts Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice.⁵ The current address appears on the form itself and on the instructions posted at the DOJ website. Call (603) 271-3591 or email charitabletrustsunit@doj.nh.gov to confirm before mailing. Paper filings take longer to process, so if the deadline is close, use the portal.

The $75 fee is non-refundable and must accompany every filing.¹

Deadline and Extensions

The NHCT-12 is due four months and 15 days after the close of your fiscal year. Calendar-year filers owe it by May 15.⁵

If you need more time, file Form NHCT-14 (Application for Extension of Time to File Annual Report) before the original due date. The extension gives you six additional months. The $75 annual report fee must accompany the NHCT-14, not the later NHCT-12. If you pay with the extension, you do not pay again when you submit the actual report.⁶

Filing an IRS Form 8868 to extend your federal return does not extend the New Hampshire deadline. You have to file the NHCT-14 separately with the Charitable Trusts Unit.⁵

If You File Late

An organization more than six months behind on complete annual reports is classified as “not in good standing.”⁷ The NHCT-12 instructions warn that delinquent filers face investigation, litigation, and penalties.⁵ Organizations and their directors can be subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.² In serious cases, the Director of Charitable Trusts can revoke registration entirely, which prohibits the charity from operating, soliciting, or fundraising in New Hampshire; notice goes by certified mail to the organization and its directors or trustees.⁸

1
Legal Information Institute. N.H. Admin. Code Jus 404.02 – Form NHCT-12 Annual Report
2
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Guidebook for New Hampshire Charitable Organizations
3
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Threshold for Requirement for Audited Financial Statements
4
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Charitable Trusts
5
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Instructions for NHCT-12 New Hampshire Annual Report for Charitable Organizations and Trusts
6
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Form NHCT-14 Application for Extension of Time to File Annual Report
7
New Hampshire Department of Justice. Registered Charities
8
Legal Information Institute. N.H. Admin. Code Jus 414.01 – Revocation of Registration