NH Rooms and Meals Tax: Rates, Licensing, and Monthly Filing

New Hampshire’s rooms and meals tax is an 8.5% tax you collect from customers on prepared meals, short-term lodging, and motor vehicle rentals, then remit to the Department of Revenue Administration by the 15th of the following month. You collect it as an agent of the state, which means the money is never yours; you hold it in trust until you send it in. The rules sit in RSA 78-A, and the Department of Revenue Administration enforces them.1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax

What You Charge and On What

The 8.5% rate applies to three categories of sales.1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax

  • Meals from a restaurant, food truck, catering business, snack bar, vending machine, fair vendor, coffee shop, ice cream stand, cocktail lounge, or similar eating establishment.2New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 78-A:3 – Definitions
  • Sleeping accommodations at hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, vacation rentals, and similar facilities when the stay runs fewer than 185 consecutive days.
  • Gross rental receipts from renting a car, truck, or other motor vehicle in New Hampshire.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 78-A:6 – Imposition of Tax

Small-dollar meals have their own math. Meals of $0.36 or less aren’t taxed. From $0.36 to $1.00 the statute uses a graduated cent-by-cent schedule. Above $1.00, you apply the 8.5% rate and round any fractional cent up.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 78-A:6 – Imposition of Tax

Who’s Exempt

Several categories of transactions fall outside the tax, and the lines are drawn around who is eating or staying rather than who prepared the food.4NH Department of Revenue Administration. Rev 700 Meals and Rentals Tax Administrative Rules

  • Meals served by a qualified educational organization to its students, whether on or off campus. Meals served to faculty and employees are exempt too, if the dining facility isn’t open to the public. School-sponsored events tied to educational purposes, like alumni functions or continuing education programs, also qualify.
  • Meals provided to patients or employees at licensed hospitals, convalescent homes, and nursing homes. A hospital cafeteria selling to the general public, however, is taxable.
  • Meals prepared and sold by a nonprofit in furtherance of its charitable or religious purpose, provided the net proceeds go exclusively to the organization’s mission.
  • Transactions involving instrumentalities of the U.S. government or the State of New Hampshire.5GSA SmartPay. New Hampshire Tax Information

Room rentals have their own exemption built on time. Once a guest stays 185 consecutive days at the same property, the stay stops being taxable because the guest is treated as a permanent resident. When a guest crosses that mark, you must refund all the tax already collected from that guest, then apply for a permanent residency credit from the Department to recover what you refunded.6NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax FAQ The 185 days must be consecutive. A guest who checks out at day 150 and comes back a week later starts over at zero.

If You Rent Through a Booking Platform

Listing on a platform does not shift the tax obligation off you by itself. New Hampshire’s definition of “operator” covers room and motor vehicle rental facilitators, and any facilitator doing business in the state must hold a Meals and Rentals License and collect tax on the full price charged to the consumer, including service fees and platform charges.6NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax FAQ If the platform is already collecting and remitting on your bookings, you generally don’t collect again on those same transactions. You still need your own license, and you should confirm what the platform is actually remitting rather than assume.

Getting Your License

Before you collect a dollar of tax, apply for a Meals and Rentals Tax License from the Department of Revenue Administration. You can apply electronically or on paper using Form CD-3, and you need a separate application for each business location.7Legal Information Institute. New Hampshire Administrative Code Rev 710.04 – Application for Meals and Rentals Tax Operator License RSA 78-A:4 requires you to register before opening a hotel, serving taxable meals, or renting motor vehicles.1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax

Once issued, the license must be posted in a visible public area on the premises. Failing to display it can trigger a warning, and repeated violations give the Department grounds to revoke, suspend, or deny the license. The Department will also refuse to issue or renew a license if you owe unpaid tax, interest, or penalties on any tax it administers.8New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 78-A:4 – Meals and Rentals Licenses Required; Penalty

Filing and Paying Each Month

Returns are due on the 15th of each month, covering the prior month’s collections. The primary channel is the Granite Tax Connect online portal, which handles both the return and the payment.1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax Paper filing is available, though the Department steers operators toward electronic filing.9NH Department of Revenue Administration. Granite Tax Connect FAQ

You can pay by ACH debit or by credit or debit card through the portal. Card payments route through a third-party vendor that charges a service fee of 2.30% of the payment amount. The Department accepts Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.9NH Department of Revenue Administration. Granite Tax Connect FAQ

Every operator must complete a Meals and Rentals Tax Worksheet each month. If you file electronically, print the worksheet and keep it with your records. The portal issues a confirmation number after submission; save that as well.10NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rentals Tax Booklet 2026

What Happens If You File Late or Short

The penalties stack. Missing a deadline by a few days can start all of them running at once.

  • Interest accrues on unpaid tax from the original due date at a rate set annually. In recent years that rate has been 9% per year, calculated daily on the outstanding balance.
  • A failure-to-pay penalty of 10% applies to any tax not paid when due. If the Department determines the nonpayment was fraudulent, the penalty rises to 50%.
  • A failure-to-file penalty of 5% of the tax due, or $10, whichever is greater, applies for each month or partial month the return stays unfiled. The total caps at 25% of the tax due or $50, whichever is greater.
  • A substantial understatement draws a 25% penalty on the underpayment. The understatement is “substantial” when the shortfall exceeds 10% of the correct tax or $5,000, whichever is larger.

Operating without a license at all carries the penalties in RSA 21-J:39, which can include misdemeanor charges for individuals.8New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 78-A:4 – Meals and Rentals Licenses Required; Penalty A misdemeanor is a criminal conviction, not just a fine, and this is where owners of a single vacation rental most often get caught short.

Records You Have to Keep

Every operator must maintain records, receipts, invoices, and other relevant documentation in a format the commissioner may require, and make them available for Department inspection at any time. The minimum retention period is three years from the due date of the tax or the date the return was actually filed, whichever is later.11Justia. New Hampshire Code Chapter 78-A – Tax on Meals and Rooms That covers monthly worksheets, filed returns, Granite Tax Connect confirmation numbers, and supporting receipts.10NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rentals Tax Booklet 2026 Keep digital copies as you generate them; reconstructing a year of sales during an audit is not where you want to start.