If your business operates in New Hampshire and expects to owe at least $200 in Business Profits Tax or $260 in Business Enterprise Tax for the year, you owe quarterly New Hampshire estimated tax payments on April 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15. Each installment should cover 25% of your projected annual liability. Fall short and the Department of Revenue Administration charges 9% annual interest on the underpaid amount for 2026.
Who Owes Estimated Payments
The obligation now sits almost entirely with businesses. New Hampshire’s Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed for all taxable periods beginning after December 31, 2024, so individuals no longer owe estimated payments on interest or dividend income.1New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. Technical Information Release TIR 2025-001 If you sent in I&D estimated payments by mistake, you have to request a refund from the Department in writing.2New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. Interest and Dividends Tax Return General Instructions
For businesses, two separate taxes trigger the payment duty. The Business Profits Tax under RSA 77-A applies at 7.5% of taxable profits for taxable periods ending on or after December 31, 2023, and any business organization projecting $200 or more in annual BPT liability must file quarterly estimated payments.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 77-A:6 The Business Enterprise Tax under RSA 77-E runs at 0.55% of the enterprise value tax base, with a threshold of $260.4New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. NH-1040-ES Estimated Tax Payments Instructions The thresholds are independent, so you could owe estimated payments for one tax, the other, or both.
Corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, fiduciaries, and other business organizations are all potentially on the hook. If your projected liability crosses either threshold partway through the year, your next installment has to catch up to what you would have paid had you known from day one.5Cornell Law Institute. NH Admin Code Rev 305.02 – Estimated Taxes
Quarterly Deadlines
For calendar-year filers, the four installments are due on the following dates:4New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. NH-1040-ES Estimated Tax Payments Instructions
- First quarter: April 15
- Second quarter: June 15
- Third quarter: September 15
- Fourth quarter: December 15
Watch the fourth quarter. The IRS gives you until January 15 of the following year for the last federal estimated payment, but New Hampshire wants its final installment a full month earlier, on December 15. Put it on your calendar separately from the federal date.
Fiscal-year filers follow a parallel schedule: payments fall on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of the fiscal period. Each installment should equal 25% of the total projected annual liability.5Cornell Law Institute. NH Admin Code Rev 305.02 – Estimated Taxes
How Much to Pay
The simplest method is to pull your prior-year New Hampshire business tax return, take the BPT and BET amounts shown, and divide each by four. That approach taps a statutory safe harbor: you avoid an underpayment penalty if your total estimated payments for the year equal or exceed the tax shown on your return for the preceding 12-month taxable period.6New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 21-J:32 – Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax If 2026 turns out to be a better year than 2025, you’ll owe the balance at filing, but no penalty rides along with it.
A second safe harbor covers you if your payments reach at least 90% of the current year’s actual tax liability. Businesses filing their first New Hampshire return are exempt from the underpayment penalty altogether.6New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 21-J:32 – Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax
One wrinkle worth knowing when you calculate: the BET you pay credits dollar-for-dollar against your BPT liability, and any unused credit carries forward up to ten taxable periods.7NH Department of Revenue Administration. Business Taxes For projecting payments, work out each tax, then apply the credit the way you would on the annual return.
Which Form to Use
The Department issues separate estimated payment vouchers by entity type:8NH Department of Revenue Administration. Current Year Forms and Instructions
- NH-1040-ES: sole proprietorships and jointly owned property businesses
- NH-1041-ES: fiduciaries (trusts and estates)
- NH-1065-ES: partnerships
- NH-1120-ES: corporations
Each voucher asks for the business name, tax identification number, taxable period, and the BPT and BET amounts for the quarter. The real calculation work happens on the annual return; the quarterly form just records what you’re sending.
How to Submit
Online is the easier route. Through the Department’s Granite Tax Connect portal, log in and pick “Make a Payment,” then “Schedule Estimated Payments.” Choose the filing period, enter BPT and BET amounts separately, and provide bank information for an electronic funds transfer. You can schedule up to a year ahead, so January is a good time to lock in all four quarters.9NH Department of Revenue Administration. Granite Tax Connect
By mail, send the printed voucher with a check or money order to:
New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration
P.O. Box 637
Concord, NH 0330210NH Department of Revenue Administration. Contact Us
Write your tax identification number on the check. Mailed payments have to arrive by the deadline, not just be postmarked, so leave a few days for delivery.
What Underpayment Costs
Interest runs at an annual rate that the Department resets yearly by taking the federal underpayment rate in effect the preceding September 1 and adding two percentage points. For 2026 the rate is 9%.11NH Department of Revenue Administration. Interest Rates for Underpayment and Overpayment of Tax
An underpayment, for penalty purposes, means the amount you should have paid for a given quarter (based on 90% of the current year’s tax, split into four installments) exceeds what you actually paid by that quarter’s deadline.6New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 21-J:32 – Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax Interest accrues from each quarterly due date until the shortfall is paid, so a missed April installment compounds much longer than a missed December one. Paying 100% of last year’s liability in four equal pieces is the cleanest way to avoid the whole calculation.