New Hampshire Surplus Lines Tax: Rates, Filing, and Penalties

The New Hampshire surplus lines tax is 3 percent of gross premiums when a licensed surplus lines producer places the coverage, and 4 percent when you procure the policy directly from an unlicensed insurer without a New Hampshire broker. Marine insurance placed independently is taxed at 2 percent. Who files, when, and how all depend on which of those two paths your policy took.

Rate by How the Policy Was Placed

If a licensed surplus lines producer binds the coverage with a non-admitted insurer, the tax is 3 percent of gross premiums minus any return premiums on canceled policies. The broker remits it to the state treasurer under RSA 405:29.¹

If you arrange coverage yourself with an out-of-state unlicensed insurer, the rate climbs to 4 percent. Marine insurance is the exception at 2 percent. “Premium” here includes membership fees, assessments, dues, and any other consideration paid for the coverage.²

The one-point difference adds up quickly on a large commercial placement, and going direct also shifts the reporting work onto you.

What Counts as Taxable Premium

Tax applies to gross premiums, but fee treatment turns on how they appear. A fee the surplus lines insurer bundles into the premium amount is taxable. A fee for services that is fully disclosed and listed separately from the premium is not.³ Ask your broker or insurer where service charges sit on the policy, because that line placement decides whether they are taxed.

When a policy covers risks only partly in New Hampshire, the tax applies to the portion of the premium allocable to in-state risks. Premiums written, procured, or received in New Hampshire are presumed to cover in-state risks unless they are properly allocated and reported as taxable in another state.⁴

Who Files and Pays

With a broker-placed policy, the producer collects the tax, remits it to the state, keeps the transaction records, and files the annual statement with the insurance commissioner.¹ For you as the policyholder, the tax simply appears in the total cost at binding.

With an independently procured policy, the filing and payment obligations are yours. You must file a report with the commissioner within 60 days of placing, continuing, or renewing the coverage, and pay the tax before March 1 of the year following the calendar year of placement. If you fail to withhold the tax from the premium, you remain personally liable for the full amount.²

Deadlines and How to File

Brokers

Licensed surplus lines producers file a sworn statement of gross premiums charged and return premiums on canceled policies for the preceding calendar year no later than January 31, with payment due at the same time.¹ Filing and payment run through OPTins (Online Premium Tax for Insurance), the NAIC-managed electronic system New Hampshire uses for surplus lines. Monthly policy filings go through the same system.⁵

Independent Policyholders

You have two separate deadlines. The report to the commissioner is due within 60 days of placing, continuing, or renewing the policy. The tax payment itself is due before March 1 of the following year.² The Insurance Department’s premium tax page lists downloadable forms for independently procured insurance. Mail payments by check to the New Hampshire Insurance Department, 21 South Fruit Street, Suite 14, Concord, NH 03301.⁶

Multi-State Risks

When a surplus lines policy covers risks in more than one state, federal law decides who taxes it. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act gives the insured’s home state exclusive authority to regulate and tax the policy. For a business, home state is the principal place of business; for an individual, it is the state of principal residence. If the entire insured risk sits outside that state, the home state becomes whichever state gets the largest share of the taxable premium.⁷

When New Hampshire is the home state on a multi-state placement, brokers report under RSA 405-B rather than the standard single-state provision.⁸ The full premium tax goes to New Hampshire alone, so you do not split payments across every state where a risk exists.

Penalties for Late Filing or Payment

Penalties under RSA 400-A:32 scale by how late the filing or payment runs:

1 to 30 days late: 3 percent of the tax due
31 to 60 days late: 6 percent of the tax due
More than 60 days late: 12 percent of the tax due

The commissioner can also suspend or revoke an insurer’s certificate of authority for failing to pay the tax or estimated tax by the due date.⁹ For brokers, that puts January 31 at the top of the compliance calendar. Self-procurers face the same escalating penalty math against the March 1 deadline.

Exempt Commercial Purchasers

Large commercial buyers may qualify as exempt commercial purchasers under the NRRA. The designation does not change the tax rate or exempt you from paying, but it eases the broker’s placement documentation, including the diligent search the producer would otherwise need to show before going to a non-admitted market. Qualification requires a retained qualified risk manager, more than $100,000 in nationwide commercial property and casualty premiums over the preceding 12 months, and meeting at least one size threshold: net worth above $20 million, annual revenue above $50 million, more than 500 full-time employees (or 1,000 in an affiliated group), a nonprofit or public entity with annual budgeted expenditures of at least $30 million, or a municipality of more than 50,000. The dollar thresholds are adjusted for inflation every five years using the Consumer Price Index.⁷

1
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 405:29 – Annual Statement; Tax
2
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 406-B:17 – Independently Procured Insurance
3
New Hampshire Insurance Department. New Hampshire Insurance Department OPTins Registration Instructions
4
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 406-B:11 – Unauthorized Insurance Premium Tax
5
New Hampshire Insurance Department. Surplus Lines
6
New Hampshire Insurance Department. 2025 Premium Tax Instructions for Property and Casualty Insurance Companies and Risk Retention Groups
7
Legal Information Institute. 15 USC 8206(5) – Exempt Commercial Purchaser Definition
8
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 405:29-a – Annual Statement; Tax; Insurance Transactions on Multi-State Risks
9
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 400-A:32 – Premium Tax; Collection, Minimum, Penalty, and Prepayments