New Hampshire LLC Taxes Explained: BPT, BET & the S-Corp Catch (2026)
New Hampshire has no personal income tax and no sales tax — but LLCs above certain thresholds owe the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax, and the state doesn't recognize federal S-Corp elections. Here's every layer, with an estimator and the one detail that changes standard S-Corp advice.
A New Hampshire LLC owes no personal state income tax on pass-through profits. But the LLC itself may owe the Business Profits Tax (BPT), 7.5% of business profits, if gross business income exceeds roughly $109,000. Separately, the Business Enterprise Tax (BET), 0.50%, applies to compensation, interest, and dividends paid, above its own threshold — both are filed together on Form BT-Summary even if only one applies. You still owe 15.3% federal self-employment tax. Critically, New Hampshire does not recognize federal S-Corp elections — S-Corps are taxed as C-corporations for BPT purposes regardless of your IRS election.
- Personal income tax
- None on wages
- Business Profits Tax (BPT)
- 7.5% above ~$109K gross income
- Business Enterprise Tax (BET)
- 0.50% on comp/interest/dividends
- Sales tax
- None
- S-Corp recognized?
- No — taxed as C-corp
- Quarterly estimates required
- If tax due > $500/yr
The Tax Layers in New Hampshire
Federal: income + self-employment tax
Pass-through profits hit your 1040 at your federal bracket, plus 15.3% SE tax on 92.35% of net profit — unaffected by New Hampshire's state-level rules.
New Hampshire personal income tax: $0
No general tax on wages or personal income. The former 5% interest-and-dividends tax was fully repealed for 2025 and later.
Business Profits Tax: 7.5% (above ~$109K gross income)
A flat-rate tax on business profits, applying to all business structures — LLCs, corporations, partnerships — above the filing threshold.
Business Enterprise Tax: 0.50%
A separate tax on your "enterprise value tax base" — compensation, interest, and dividends paid — with its own threshold, filed together with the BPT.
Estimate Your Combined Bill
New Hampshire LLC Tax Estimator
Single-member default taxation · federal + BPT (if applicable) · educational estimate
The S-Corp Catch (Read This Before You Elect)
New Hampshire does not recognize the federal S-Corp election. If you file Form 2553 with the IRS to elect S-Corp taxation, that election works federally — you can still pay yourself a reasonable salary and take distributions that avoid the 15.3% SE tax at the federal level. But for New Hampshire's own Business Profits Tax, your LLC is still taxed as if it were a C-corporation, regardless of your federal election. This is different from nearly every other state in this series, where an S-Corp election typically flows through cleanly at the state level too.
What this means practically: the federal SE-tax savings from an S-Corp election still apply in New Hampshire. But don't assume your state tax treatment mirrors your federal election the way it would almost anywhere else — model your BPT exposure with a New Hampshire-specific CPA before and after an S-Corp election, since the state-level math doesn't follow the usual pattern.
The Business Profits Tax, in Detail
The BPT applies to all business structures — LLCs, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships — carrying on business activity in New Hampshire. Organizations with gross business income of $109,000 or less (2025+ threshold, indexed to CPI) generally aren't required to file a return at all. Above that, the tax is 7.5% of taxable business profits, calculated essentially using federal income tax rules with New Hampshire-specific adjustments. Multi-state businesses apportion income based on the sales factor.
The Business Enterprise Tax, in Detail
The BET is a separate 0.50% tax (reduced from 0.55% in recent years) on your enterprise value tax base — essentially compensation, interest, and dividends paid by the business. It exists because BPT revenue historically varied significantly year to year; the BET provides New Hampshire a steadier revenue source. Even a business that doesn't turn a profit may still owe BET based on wages and other payments — including, for many sole proprietors, their own compensation as defined under the tax.
Your New Hampshire Tax Calendar
| Date | What's Due |
|---|---|
| Quarterly (if tax due > $500/yr) | Estimated BPT/BET payments |
| Mar 15 | Form 1065 (multi-member LLCs) + K-1s, federally |
| Apr 1 | Annual report to the Secretary of State ($100/$102) — window opens Jan 1 |
| Apr 15 | Form 1040 federally, and Form BT-Summary (BPT/BET) for calendar-year filers |
Ahmad Adil's Take: New Hampshire's "no income tax" reputation is real for wages and personal income, but I want every LLC owner reading this to internalize one number and one exception. The number is $109,000 — cross that in gross business income and the 7.5% BPT is a real, meaningful tax, not a rounding error. The exception is the S-Corp non-recognition, which is the single most important tax fact in this entire New Hampshire guide: generic LLC tax advice you've read elsewhere about electing S-Corp around $60–80K profit still helps you federally here, but it does nothing for your New Hampshire BPT bill, which taxes you as a C-corp regardless. Don't run New Hampshire numbers through a generic multi-state calculator — get a CPA who specifically knows BPT and BET, because the standard playbook genuinely doesn't apply here the way it does almost everywhere else.
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New Hampshire LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The figures here — the $100 Certificate of Formation, the $100 annual report due April 1, and New Hampshire’s Business Profits Tax (7.5%) and Business Enterprise Tax (0.50%) — reflect current New Hampshire Secretary of State and Department of Revenue Administration guidance. This is educational content, not legal or tax advice.
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