New Hampshire taxes in 2026 come down to this: no general sales tax, no income tax on wages, salaries, pensions or investment income, and no estate or inheritance tax. The state raises its money instead from local property taxes, an 8.5% tax on restaurant meals and short-term lodging, a real estate transfer tax of $0.75 per $100 paid by both buyer and seller, business taxes, and a handful of excise taxes on things like fuel and tobacco. The last piece of the old income tax, the 3% tax on interest and dividends, was repealed for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025.
So New Hampshire is not tax-free; it simply puts the bill somewhere else. For most households that somewhere is the house. This guide walks through every state tax in New Hampshire you are likely to meet as a resident or second-home owner, what each one costs in real dollars, how the overall picture compares with Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, and what it means for buyers relocating to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. We sell homes from offices in Campton and Plymouth, and the tax question comes up in nearly every first conversation with an out-of-state buyer.
New Hampshire taxes at a glance (2026)
Here is what taxes in New Hampshire, USA, look like for an individual or homeowner this year. Each NH state tax rate below is from the NH Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) unless noted.
| Tax | Does NH have it? | 2026 rate or amount |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax on wages and salaries | No | None |
| Interest and dividends tax | No (repealed 2025) | None for 2025 onward |
| Capital gains tax (individuals) | No | None at the state level |
| General sales tax | No | None |
| Meals and rooms (rentals) tax | Yes | 8.5% of meals, lodging and car rentals |
| Property tax | Yes, set town by town | 2025 rates from $2.62 to $36.54 per $1,000 of assessed value |
| Real estate transfer tax | Yes | $0.75 per $100 from the buyer and the seller each (1.5% combined) |
| Estate and inheritance tax | No | None |
| Business profits tax | Yes, on businesses | 7.5% |
| Business enterprise tax | Yes, on businesses | 0.55% |
| Communications services tax | Yes | 7% of phone and similar bills |
| Gasoline road toll | Yes | 22.2 cents per gallon |
| Cigarette tax | Yes | $1.78 per pack of 20 |
| Vehicle registration | Yes, town permit fee plus state fee | Town fee based on the car's original list price and age |
So what taxes does New Hampshire have that you will actually notice? Two things stand out. First, nearly everything a household buys day to day — groceries, clothes, furniture, appliances, a new car — carries no sales tax. Second, the property tax column is a range, not a number, because each of New Hampshire's towns sets its own rate.
Does New Hampshire have a state income tax?
No. New Hampshire does not tax wages, salaries, tips, self-employment income, pensions, Social Security, IRA or 401(k) withdrawals; the New Hampshire income tax rate on earned income has always been zero. For most of its history the state did tax one kind of personal income: interest and dividends above an exemption. That tax was phased down from 5% to 4% to 3% and then repealed effective January 1, 2025 under legislation signed in 2023. Anyone who owed it for 2024 or earlier still had to file for those years, but there is no New Hampshire personal income tax return for 2025 or 2026.
That answers the most common version of the question, "does NH have a state tax?" Does New Hampshire have a state tax at all? It has New Hampshire state taxes, but not the two big ones most states rely on, an income tax and a sales tax. The Tax Foundation's 2026 rate table lists New Hampshire among the states with no individual income tax on wages.
Two caveats for people moving here:
- You still pay federal income tax. Nothing about living in New Hampshire changes your IRS bill.
- Working in Massachusetts changes the math. A New Hampshire resident who commutes to a job in Massachusetts generally owes Massachusetts income tax on those Massachusetts wages. The no-income-tax benefit is cleanest for retirees, remote workers with New Hampshire as their home state, and people who work in New Hampshire.
Is there a capital gains tax when you sell a home?
There is no New Hampshire capital gains tax for individuals. Federal capital gains rules still apply, including the $250,000 / $500,000 home-sale exclusion. Our guide to capital gains tax when selling a home in New Hampshire works through the federal rules with examples.
Does NH have sales tax?
No. There is no NH sales tax on general purchases: no state sales tax in New Hampshire and no local one either, so the New Hampshire sales tax rate on retail goods is 0%. You pay the sticker price for groceries, clothes, electronics, furniture, building materials, boats and cars. That is why the state liquor stores at the border and the outlet stores in North Conway and Merrimack draw so many out-of-state shoppers.
"No sales tax" does have exceptions. The state taxes certain specific purchases at the register:
- Restaurant meals, takeout and prepared food: 8.5% meals tax (next section).
- Hotel rooms, vacation rentals and car rentals: 8.5% rooms and rentals tax.
- Phone and similar communications bills: a 7% communications services tax. A 2025 bill to phase it out, HB 417, did not become law.
- Gasoline: the gas tax in NH, officially the road toll, is 22.2 cents a gallon: an 18-cent base rate under RSA 260:32, adjusted once for inflation on July 1, 2014 and unchanged since.
- Cigarettes: $1.78 per pack of 20.
Everything else, from a sofa to a snowblower, is sales-tax free.
The NH meals and rooms tax: 8.5%
The NH meals tax is the closest thing New Hampshire has to a sales tax. Officially the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax, and often called the New Hampshire rooms and meals tax, it is 8.5% on restaurant meals and prepared food costing $0.36 or more, on hotel and other short-term sleeping accommodations, and on motor vehicle rentals. The rate dropped from 9% to 8.5% on October 1, 2021 and is still 8.5% in the DRA's 2026 meals and rentals tax booklet.
In practice: a $100 dinner in Meredith or Lincoln adds $8.50 in tax, and a $400 weekend at a Waterville Valley condo adds $34.
Rooms tax on short-term rentals
This is the part of the meals and rooms tax that matters most to buyers. If you rent out a home, condo or cabin for short stays, the rent is taxable. The DRA's meals and rentals FAQ is explicit: tax applies to the rental charge "even if the rental is for only one day," whether the property is a summer home, vacation home, hobby rental, time share or investment property. Owners and anyone acting as an agent for them need a Meals and Rentals operator's license before they start renting.
If a ski condo near Loon or a lake cottage you plan to rent is on your list, build the 8.5% into the nightly rate you quote and confirm how your booking platform or manager handles collection. Our Lincoln NH Airbnb investment guide and the free short-term rental analysis cover the rest of the rental math.
New Hampshire real estate tax: property taxes
Property tax is the big one. Per the Tax Foundation, property taxes made up 59.5% of New Hampshire's state and local tax collections in fiscal 2023, and the average property tax in New Hampshire, measured as an effective rate on owner-occupied housing, is 1.50% of home value, one of the higher figures in the country. That is the trade-off for having no broad income or sales tax.
How it works, briefly:
- Every town sets its own rate. NH town tax rates are quoted in dollars per $1,000 of assessed value. The DRA's 2025 certified rate list runs from $2.62 in Hart's Location to $36.54 in Charlestown.
- One rate, four parts. Each town's rate combines a municipal, county, local school and state education property tax, the last of which is a state tax collected locally.
- The bill is rate × assessment. A home assessed at $400,000 in a town with a $15 rate pays $6,000 a year.
Property tax rates in NH vary more by town than almost anything else about owning a home here. Around our offices, the 2025 rates were:
| Town | 2025 rate per $1,000 | On a $400,000 assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Waterville Valley | $9.96 | $3,984 |
| Thornton | $11.74 | $4,696 |
| Lincoln | $12.66 | $5,064 |
| Campton | $17.46 | $6,984 |
| Plymouth | $23.77 | $9,508 |
Rates are from the DRA's 2025 list; the dollar column is arithmetic, not an actual bill, and towns can assess below market value. We won't repeat the full explanation here: our guide to New Hampshire property taxes explained covers how a rate is built, why assessed value is not market value, the 2025 table of property tax rates by town, exemptions for older residents and veterans, abatements, and how taxes are prorated at closing. For one town's bill line by line, see the Plymouth NH property tax guide.
Where to find a town's tax bill, tax maps and tax collector
Property taxes in New Hampshire are billed and collected by the town, not the state, so the town office is where you look up a bill, pay it, or study a parcel on the tax map.
- Campton: the Campton town clerk and tax collector's office is at 10 Gearty Way; hours and contacts are on the town clerk / tax collector page, and assessment records are on the town's assessing page.
- Plymouth: Plymouth NH tax maps and parcel data are in the town's online AxisGIS map viewer.
- Elsewhere in the Lakes Region: most towns, from Meredith to Gilmanton, post tax maps and assessing data on the town website; the Town of Gilmanton site is typical.
Before you make an offer, pull the tax card for the property, check the most recent bill, and ask when the town last revalued. If the assessment is well below the price you are paying, expect the bill to rise at the next revaluation.
The NH real estate transfer tax
New Hampshire's real estate transfer tax, under RSA 78-B, is $0.75 per $100 of the sale price, charged to both the buyer and the seller. Combined, that is $1.50 per $100, or 1.5% of the price. Sales of $4,000 or less pay a minimum of $20 per party. It is collected when the deed is recorded at the county registry of deeds; you will sometimes hear it called the NH stamp tax.
To estimate your share, divide the price by 100 and multiply by 0.75:
| Sale price | Buyer's share | Seller's share | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $2,250 | $2,250 | $4,500 |
| $450,000 | $3,375 | $3,375 | $6,750 |
| $600,000 | $4,500 | $4,500 | $9,000 |
| $900,000 | $6,750 | $6,750 | $13,500 |
That is all an NH transfer tax calculator does. The one surprise for buyers coming from Massachusetts, where the seller customarily pays the deed excise, is that a New Hampshire buyer pays the same amount as the seller. Budget for it with your other closing costs. Sellers can see where it sits among the rest of their costs in our guide to seller closing costs in New Hampshire.
Car registration and the town permit fee
New Hampshire has no sales tax on a car purchase and no NH excise tax on cars like the annual motor vehicle excise in Massachusetts. It does have a registration cost that surprises new residents, because most of it goes to the town.
Registering a car is a two-part transaction:
- The municipal permit fee, paid to your town clerk. Under RSA 261:153 it is based on the vehicle's original manufacturer's list price, not what you paid or what it is worth now, at a rate that steps down with age: $18 per $1,000 for the current model year, then $15, $12, $9 and $6 for each older model year, and $3 per $1,000 for anything five or more model years old. A car with a $40,000 original list price costs $720 as a current-model-year car and $120 a year once it is five or more model years old (a 2021 or older model in 2026).
- The state registration fee, based on weight. Since January 1, 2026, RSA 261:141 has set it at $3.50 a month ($42 a year) for passenger vehicles up to 3,000 pounds, $4.00 a month ($48) for 3,001 to 5,000 pounds and $5.50 a month ($66) for 5,001 to 8,000 pounds. The title fee rose from $25 to $35 on the same date.
New residents have 60 days after moving in to get a New Hampshire registration and driver's license. Start at your town clerk's office, not the DMV; in most towns you register there first.
Estate and inheritance tax: none
There is no New Hampshire estate tax and no NH inheritance tax. The legacy and succession tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2003, and the state estate tax return stopped being required for deaths on or after January 1, 2005, when the federal credit it was tied to ended. Heirs owe the state nothing on what they inherit. The federal estate tax still applies to large estates, and an inherited house gets a stepped-up basis for federal capital gains purposes, which our capital gains guide explains.
This is a meaningful difference from all three neighbors: Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine each still have a state estate tax.
New Hampshire business taxes: BPT and BET
If you plan to run a business, including a rental business, from New Hampshire, there are two state business taxes, both described on the DRA's business taxes page:
- Business Profits Tax (BPT): 7.5% of taxable business profits. For 2026, a business must file if its gross business income is over $109,000, per the DRA's 2026 filing guidance.
- Business Enterprise Tax (BET): 0.55% of the enterprise value tax base (broadly, compensation paid, interest and dividends). For 2026, a business must file if gross business receipts or the enterprise value tax base are over $298,000.
The two taxes work together: BET paid can be credited against BPT. In July 2026 the state also amended the BET through HB 155 (Chapter 280 of 2026), which raises the BET filing threshold to $400,000 effective January 1, 2027. Both thresholds change every two years, and under RSA 77-A:1 the BPT applies to sole proprietors and partnerships as well as corporations, so a CPA is worth the call if you are self-employed or own rentals through an LLC. One more wrinkle: New Hampshire's business tax code still conforms to the Internal Revenue Code as of December 31, 2018, so federal changes since then don't flow through automatically.
Taxes in New Hampshire for retirees
New Hampshire taxes for retirees are short to list. There is no state tax on Social Security, pensions, annuities, IRA or 401(k) withdrawals, interest, dividends or capital gains, and no estate or inheritance tax for your heirs. What you will pay is property tax on your home, the meals and rooms tax when you eat out or travel, and car registration.
That makes the town you choose the single biggest tax decision. Many towns offer elderly property tax exemptions with their own age, income and asset limits, and those differ widely; the property tax guide covers them. A retiree moving from a state that taxes pensions and purchases often comes out ahead even with a larger property tax bill, but run the numbers on the specific house and town before assuming so.
New Hampshire taxes compared to other states in New England
The table compares New Hampshire state tax with its three northern New England neighbors, using the Tax Foundation's 2026 figures.
| New Hampshire | Massachusetts | Vermont | Maine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income tax on wages | None | 5%; 9% above $1,083,150 | 3.35% to 8.75% | 5.8% to 7.15%; 9.15% top rate on income over $1 million |
| State sales tax | None | 6.25% | 6.00% | 5.50% |
| Effective property tax rate (owner-occupied) | 1.50% | 1.00% | 1.51% | 0.98% |
| State and local tax collections per person | $5,784 | $9,076 | $8,462 | $7,220 |
| 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index rank | 3rd | 43rd | 42nd | 26th |
Sources: Tax Foundation pages for New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, and its 2026 income tax brackets (single-filer thresholds). Maine's 2% surcharge on income over $1 million ($1.5 million for joint filers) was enacted in April 2026 in LD 2212, retroactive to January 1, 2026.
The pattern is clear. New Hampshire collects far less in total per person than any of its neighbors, but leans harder on property. Vermont matches it on property tax and adds an income and sales tax; Massachusetts and Maine have lower property tax rates but tax income and purchases. Whether you come out ahead depends on how much you earn, how much you spend, and how much house you buy.
A rough way to compare your own situation: take last year's state income tax and an estimate of the sales tax you paid, and set that against the difference in property tax between your current home and the one you are considering here. For most people with meaningful income, that comparison favors New Hampshire. For someone with little taxable income buying an expensive home in a high-rate town, it may not.
What New Hampshire taxes mean for buyers relocating here
Here is how we suggest buyers from out of state think about it.
Shop the town, not just the house. Two houses at the same price on either side of a town line can carry tax bills thousands of dollars apart. Between Thornton, Campton and Plymouth, for example, the 2025 rates run from $11.74 to $23.77. If you are flexible on location, compare NH tax rates by town early. Our ranking of the best towns to live in New Hampshire includes each town's tax rate, and the Lakes Region and White Mountains pages list homes for sale by town.
Look at the assessment as well as the rate. A low rate on an assessment that is far below market can jump after a revaluation. Ask the town when it last revalued.
Budget the transfer tax. Your half is 0.75% of the price, due at closing.
If you will rent the property, plan for the rooms tax. The 8.5% is charged to guests on every short-term stay, and you need an operator's license.
Register your cars within 60 days, and expect the first year's town permit fee on a newer car to be larger than you are used to, even though there was no sales tax when you bought it.
Keep good records for the IRS. Leaving a high-tax state does not end your federal obligations, and if you keep a home or income in your old state, it may still tax that income.
Our New Hampshire home buyer guide covers the purchase from offer to closing, and the moving to New Hampshire guide covers the practical side of relocating. For a current read on prices, see the New Hampshire housing market 2026 report.
If you are weighing towns and want the tax picture for specific houses, talk to our buyer team. We pull the tax card on every home we show.
Frequently asked questions
Does New Hampshire have a state income tax?
No. New Hampshire does not tax wages, salaries, pensions, Social Security or retirement account withdrawals. Its tax on interest and dividends was repealed for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025, so for 2025 and 2026 there is no state personal income tax. Federal income tax still applies, and New Hampshire residents who work in Massachusetts generally owe Massachusetts tax on those wages.
Does NH have sales tax?
No. New Hampshire has no general sales tax, so most purchases, including cars, carry no tax at the register. The exceptions are an 8.5% tax on restaurant meals, lodging and car rentals, a 7% tax on communications services, and excise taxes on gasoline and tobacco.
What is the NH meals tax rate?
The New Hampshire meals tax, formally the meals and rooms tax, is 8.5%. It applies to restaurant meals and prepared food of $0.36 or more, hotel stays and other short-term rentals, including vacation home rentals, and car rentals. The rate was cut from 9% to 8.5% on October 1, 2021.
How much is the transfer tax in NH?
The New Hampshire real estate transfer tax is $0.75 per $100 of the sale price, paid by both the buyer and the seller, for a combined 1.5%. On a $450,000 sale, each side pays $3,375. Sales of $4,000 or less pay a $20 minimum per party.
Does New Hampshire have an estate or inheritance tax?
No. New Hampshire repealed its inheritance (legacy and succession) tax for deaths on or after January 1, 2003, and has not required a state estate tax return for deaths on or after January 1, 2005. Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine all still have a state estate tax.
Is New Hampshire tax free?
No. New Hampshire has no income or sales tax, but it has some of the higher property taxes in the country, plus the meals and rooms tax, the real estate transfer tax, business taxes and vehicle registration fees. In total it collects less per person than its New England neighbors, but property owners carry more of the load.
How does New Hampshire compare with Massachusetts on taxes?
Massachusetts taxes income at 5% (9% above about $1.08 million) and purchases at 6.25%; New Hampshire taxes neither. Massachusetts has a lower effective property tax rate, 1.00% against New Hampshire's 1.50%, per the Tax Foundation. For most households with income, total taxes are lower in New Hampshire, but the property tax on a specific house is the number to check.
What taxes do retirees pay in New Hampshire?
Retirees in New Hampshire pay no state tax on Social Security, pensions, retirement account withdrawals, interest, dividends or capital gains. Their main tax is the local property tax, and many towns offer elderly exemptions with their own income and asset limits. They also pay the 8.5% meals and rooms tax and vehicle registration fees.