New Hampshire LLC Annual Filing Requirements

If you want to start and run a New Hampshire limited liability company (LLC), you'll need to prepare and file various documents with the state. This article covers the most important ongoing reporting and state tax filing requirements for New Hampshire LLCs.

Annual Report

The State of New Hampshire requires you to file an annual report for your LLC. You can mail in the report or complete it online at the Secretary of State website. You'll need your LLC's state-issued Business ID number to access the online form.

The annual report must be filed each year by April 1. The annual report filing fee for a New Hampshire LLC is $100.

State Business Tax

When it comes to income taxes, most LLCs are so-called pass-through tax entities. In other words, the responsibility for paying federal income taxes passes through the LLC itself and falls on the individual LLC members. By default, LLCs themselves do not pay income taxes, only their members do.

New Hampshire, however, is relatively unusual in imposing several taxes directly on LLCs with incomes or other values above certain levels. First, there is the business profits tax, which applies to LLCs with gross business income before expenses of more than $50,000. Second, there is a business enterprise tax, which applies to LLCs with either gross business receipts of more than $200,000 or a so-called enterprise value tax base exceeding $100,000.

These taxes are paid to the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (DORA). You can find forms for both tax returns (Form BET and Form NH-1065) on the DORA website. You can also file these returns online using an efile system. For more details on New Hampshire's various business taxes, check Nolo's article, 50-State Guide to Business Income Tax, or the DORA website.

State Employer Taxes

Does your LLC have employees? If so, you'll need to pay employer taxes. Some of these taxes are paid to the federal government (the IRS) and are not covered here. (But note that federal employer tax obligations start with obtaining a federal employer identification number (EIN).) However, New Hampshire employers also must pay unemployment insurance (UI) tax to the state.

The UI tax is handled by the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (NHES). You must first register with NHES, which can be done online. Next, when you hire your first employee you must file an Employer Status Report. Then, on a quarterly basis, you must file a reports and payments with the NHES. You can file the Employer Status Report and quarterly reports online through New Hampshire's WebTax system. Both the Employer Status Report and quarterly report forms are available for download from the NHES website. For more details regarding this tax, including rates, check with NHES.

Sales and Use Taxes

New Hampshire currently is one of just five states that does not charge sales tax. Consequently, unlike LLCs that sell goods in most other states, if your LLC sells goods in New Hampshire you don't need to worry about paying sales tax to the state.

Registration in Other States

If you will be doing business in states other than New Hampshire, you may need to register your LLC in some or all of those states. Whether you're required to register will depend on the specific states involved: each state has its own rules for what constitutes doing business and whether registration is necessary. Often activities such as having a physical presence (a business location) in a state, hiring employees in a state, or soliciting business in a state (such as by telephone, print ads, mail, or the Internet) will be considered doing business for registration purposes. Registration usually involves obtaining a certificate of authority or similar document.

For more information on the requirements for forming and operating an LLC in New Hampshire, see Nolo's article, 50-State Guide to Forming an LLC, and other articles on LLCs in the LLC section of the Nolo website.