New Hampshire tax forms are a short list for most people: if your only income is wages, salary, or retirement, you have no state tax forms to file. The state does not tax that income, and as of January 1, 2025, the Interest and Dividends Tax is fully repealed.1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Repeal of NH Interest and Dividends Tax Now in Effect The state-level forms that remain are tied to running a business, operating a hotel or restaurant, or transferring real estate.
Who Actually Has to File a New Hampshire Return
Three groups file state forms. Businesses that cross the Business Profits Tax or Business Enterprise Tax thresholds file those returns along with a BT-Summary. Operators of hotels, restaurants, and motor vehicle rental businesses collect and remit the Meals and Rooms Tax every month. Buyers and sellers of New Hampshire real estate file a Real Estate Transfer Tax return at closing. Everyone else — wage earners, retirees, people living on investment income — files nothing with the state.
Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax
For taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, a business must file a Business Profits Tax (BPT) return if gross business income from all activities exceeds $109,000. A Business Enterprise Tax (BET) return is required if gross receipts exceed $298,000 or the enterprise value tax base exceeds $298,000.2NH Department of Revenue Administration. Business Taxes Those thresholds moved up from $103,000 and $281,000 under the prior year’s rules.3NH Department of Revenue Administration. Business Profits Tax
The BPT rate is 7.5 percent of taxable business profits for periods ending on or after December 31, 2023. The BET rate is 0.55 percent of the enterprise value tax base.2NH Department of Revenue Administration. Business Taxes
The two taxes are not meant to stack in full. BET paid during the year is credited against your BPT liability, and any unused BET credit carries forward for up to ten taxable periods.2NH Department of Revenue Administration. Business Taxes A business that owes both ends up paying roughly the larger of the two, not the sum.
Why the BT-Summary Matters
If you meet the filing threshold for either the BPT or the BET, you must also file a BT-Summary. The Department of Revenue Administration treats a filing without one as incomplete, even if the underlying BPT or BET return is correct.4NH Department of Revenue Administration. 2025 BT-Summary Instructions
The BT-Summary is where the two taxes get reconciled. It pulls the net tax from your BET and BPT returns, applies the BET-against-BPT credit and any other statutory credits, and produces your final balance due or overpayment. Complete the individual BET and BPT returns first, then move those figures onto the BT-Summary. Separate BT-Summary forms are required for each business entity that files separate returns, though waters-edge combined filers may use a single form.4NH Department of Revenue Administration. 2025 BT-Summary Instructions An Additional Information worksheet is available when line-item detail runs long. All current forms live on the department’s forms page.5NH Department of Revenue Administration. Current Year Forms and Instructions
What You Need Before You File
Every business return asks for a Federal Employer Identification Number. If you don’t have one, apply through the IRS with Form SS-4 or the online EIN application.6Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN) A taxpayer without a FEIN and without a Social Security Number must obtain a department identification number before filing.7Cornell Law Institute. New Hampshire Admin Code Rev 2903.01 – Department Identification Number
Your New Hampshire returns need to reconcile with your federal filing, so keep the completed federal return and supporting schedules nearby. Pull together profit-and-loss statements, balance sheets, and documentation of the enterprise value tax base components — compensation, interest, and dividends paid — that feed the BET calculation.
Meals and Rooms, Real Estate Transfer, and Communications
Hotels, restaurants, and motor vehicle rental operators collect the Meals and Rooms Tax from customers at 8.5 percent and remit it to the state by the 15th of each month. Every owner or operator must register with the Department of Revenue Administration and obtain a license before opening.8NH Department of Revenue Administration. Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax
When real property changes hands, both buyer and seller owe a Real Estate Transfer Tax of $0.75 per $100 of the sale price, reported on a return filed with the Department of Revenue Administration at the time of transfer.9NH Department of Revenue Administration. Real Estate Transfer Tax On a $400,000 home, that is $3,000 from each side.
Two-way communications services are taxed at 7 percent of the gross charge, collected and remitted by the service provider.10NH Department of Revenue Administration. Communications Services Tax Consumers do not file a separate return.
Filing Through Granite Tax Connect
Granite Tax Connect is the Department of Revenue Administration’s online portal, and it handles electronic filing for all the major state taxes, including Business Profits, Business Enterprise, Meals and Rooms, Real Estate Transfer, and Communications Services.11NH Department of Revenue Administration. Granite Tax Connect Through the portal you can file and amend returns, see account balances, make payments, upload documents, register new accounts, and link a tax preparer to your account.
Some services run without an account at all, including requests for Certificates of Good Standing, dissolution applications, and the Low and Moderate Income Homeowner’s Property Tax Relief application during the filing window.11NH Department of Revenue Administration. Granite Tax Connect Paper returns go to the Department of Revenue Administration in Concord; processing takes weeks instead of the near-immediate confirmation of electronic filing.
Deadlines, Estimated Payments, and Penalties
Business tax returns for calendar-year filers are due April 15. For the 2025 tax year that is April 15, 2026.12NH Department of Revenue Administration. Department of Revenue Calendar An extension is available, but any tax owed must still be paid by the original due date to avoid interest and penalties.
Businesses whose annual BPT or BET liability exceeds $200 must make quarterly estimated tax payments. Missing those payments triggers an addition to tax under the variable underpayment rate, which is tied to the IRS underpayment rate plus two percentage points and accrues for as long as the underpayment runs.13NH Department of Revenue Administration. Interest Rates for Underpayment and Overpayment of Tax
Late-filing and underpayment penalties fall under RSA 21-J. The underpayment penalty under RSA 21-J:32 uses that variable rate rather than a flat percentage, so the cost moves with federal interest rates.14New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21-J:32 – Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax Filing on time, even with an estimated figure you amend later, is almost always cheaper than filing late.
Do You Still Need to File a DP-10?
Only for 2024 or earlier. The Interest and Dividends Tax was phased down from 5 percent to 4 percent for periods ending on or after December 31, 2023, then to 3 percent for periods ending on or after December 31, 2024, and is gone entirely for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025.15NH Department of Revenue Administration. Interest and Dividends Tax Frequently Asked Questions1NH Department of Revenue Administration. Repeal of NH Interest and Dividends Tax Now in Effect Under the prior rules, single filers with more than $2,400 in interest and dividend income, or $4,800 for joint filers, had to file, with the final year taxed at 3 percent.16NH Department of Revenue Administration. 2024 DP-10 Interest and Dividends Tax Return If you owe a return for 2024 or an earlier year, those rules still govern it. For 2025 and later, there is no DP-10 to file.
What the Repeal Doesn’t Change on Your Federal Return
The I&D repeal is a state matter. Federally, if you received more than $1,500 in taxable interest or ordinary dividends during the year, you still complete Schedule B on your Form 1040.17Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule B (Form 1040) Your 1099-INT and 1099-DIV forms stay essential for federal reporting even though they no longer trigger a New Hampshire filing.
Business owners who pay BPT or BET can deduct those state taxes on their federal return if they itemize. The federal deduction for state and local taxes is capped at $40,400 for 2026, or $20,200 if married filing separately,18Congress.gov. The 2/37ths Limitation on Itemized Deductions and state and local real property taxes count toward the same cap.19Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 503, Deductible Taxes
Hold onto filed returns and supporting documents for the IRS’s standard windows: three years from filing in most cases, six years if you underreported income by more than 25 percent of gross income, and seven years for losses from worthless securities or bad debt. Records go indefinitely for an unfiled or fraudulent return.20Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records? Because the BET credit carries forward up to ten taxable periods, keep the records supporting that credit until the carryforward window closes.