How to Start an LLC in New Hampshire (2026): Step-by-Step Filing Guide

If you’re figuring out how to start an LLC in New Hampshire in 2026, here’s the punchline before we dig in: the state charges $102 to file your Certificate of Formation online, requires an annual report every April 1 for $100, and — unlike most of its New England neighbors — imposes a Business Profits Tax and a Business Enterprise Tax that catch a lot of new owners off guard. New Hampshire likes to market itself as the “Live Free or Die” state with no income tax and no sales tax, and that’s true for individuals. For LLCs that cross modest revenue thresholds, the picture is more nuanced, and I’ve seen too many founders form here without realizing they’ll owe the state on the business side regardless.

The mechanical filing itself is straightforward, though. You can do it yourself through the New Hampshire QuickStart portal in about 30 minutes, or you can let a service handle the paperwork, registered agent, and EIN in a single package. For most owners who want to spend an afternoon on this and then forget about it, ZenBusiness handles the New Hampshire filing for $0 plus the state’s $102 fee and bundles a year of registered agent service if you go with their Pro plan. We’ll walk through the DIY route below so you know exactly what’s involved either way.

Why Form an LLC in New Hampshire?

A quick word on whether New Hampshire is the right home for your LLC before we get into the steps. The standard rule from every corporate attorney I’ve worked with: form your LLC in the state where you actually do business. If you live in Manchester and your customers are in Manchester, file in New Hampshire. Forming in Delaware or Wyoming when you operate in New Hampshire just means paying two states’ fees, hiring two registered agents, and registering back home as a “foreign LLC” anyway — I cover that trap in our foreign LLC registration guide and our best state to form an LLC breakdown.

That said, New Hampshire has some real advantages for in-state founders:

No state personal income tax on wages. New Hampshire eliminated its 5% Interest and Dividends Tax on January 1, 2025, so as an individual member you pay no state income tax on either earned income or investment income in 2026.
No state sales tax. If you sell products or taxable services in New Hampshire, you don’t collect a state sales tax — a quiet advantage compared to neighboring Massachusetts (6.25%) and Vermont (6%).
Reasonable filing fees. The $102 online Certificate of Formation fee is in the middle of the pack — well below the $500 you’d pay in Massachusetts.
Simple annual report. One report per year, online, $100. No franchise tax, no public benefit corporation paperwork, no Delaware-style alternative minimum tax.

The catch is on the business-tax side, which is where most LLC owners get surprised:

Business Profits Tax (BPT) of 7.5% on net business income, but only if your LLC’s gross business income exceeds the 2026 filing threshold (the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration sets this annually — it was $103,000 in recent years and adjusts for inflation).
Business Enterprise Tax (BET) of 0.55% on the sum of compensation paid, interest paid, and dividends paid, kicking in once enterprise value tax base or gross receipts exceed the BET threshold.

These two taxes are why I tell founders that New Hampshire is fantastic on the personal side and “normal” on the business side. If you’re a freelancer billing under $100K, you’ll probably owe neither tax. If you’re scaling toward $300K+, you should be talking to a CPA before April. The official thresholds and rates are published by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration — verify the current-year numbers there because they do adjust.

With that context out of the way, here’s the step-by-step.

Step 1: Choose Your New Hampshire LLC Name

Your LLC name has to satisfy three requirements under New Hampshire RSA 304-C:32:

It must contain the words “limited liability company” or one of the abbreviations LLC or L.L.C.
It must be distinguishable from every other business entity name already on file with the New Hampshire Secretary of State.
It cannot include words that imply a different entity type (Inc., Corp.) or a regulated profession (Bank, Insurance, Trust, Cooperative) without the appropriate approval from the relevant state agency.

How to check name availability. Go to the New Hampshire QuickStart business search at quickstart.sos.nh.gov and search for your proposed name without the LLC suffix. Look at both exact matches and similar names — “distinguishable” is a relatively low bar, but the Corporation Division has discretion. Adding a geographic modifier (“Concord,” “Seacoast”) or an industry word (“Holdings,” “Capital,” “Solutions”) almost always clears it.

Reserving the name. If you’ve settled on a name but aren’t ready to file the Certificate of Formation, you can reserve it for 120 days by filing an Application for Reservation of Name (Form 1) for $15. Honestly, I rarely tell people to bother. $15 is cheap, but most founders are ready to file the actual Certificate within a week of choosing a name — at which point the reservation was wasted money.

A practical naming tip from compliance work. Pick something that’s also available as a .com domain and as a handle on the social platforms you’ll actually use. The Corporation Division doesn’t care about domains, but you’ll save yourself a costly rebrand in year two. I’ve watched founders register beautiful names only to discover the matching domain is parked at $4,800.

Step 2: Appoint a New Hampshire Registered Agent

Every New Hampshire LLC must designate a registered agent with a physical street address in New Hampshire (P.O. boxes don’t satisfy the rule) who is available during normal business hours to receive service of process — that’s lawsuit papers, state notices, and other official mail.

You have three real options:

Be your own registered agent. Legal and free. The trade-off is that your home street address becomes part of the public record on the Secretary of State’s website, which is searchable by anyone. If you’re served with a lawsuit, the sheriff or process server shows up at your door, often in front of customers or family. For owners running a business from a home address, I generally recommend against it.
Designate another New Hampshire-resident individual — a friend, family member, or attorney. Same privacy concerns transfer to them, plus you now depend on them being reachable during business hours for years on end.
Hire a commercial registered agent service. Typical pricing runs $99–$300 per year. This is the path most owners settle on once they understand the privacy and reliability tradeoffs. Our what is a registered agent guide goes deeper on the role itself.

For New Hampshire specifically, Northwest Registered Agent is the privacy-focused option at $125/year — they use their own street address on the public filing rather than yours, and they’ve been doing this since 1998. If you want the registered agent bundled into a formation package, ZenBusiness includes a year of registered agent service free with their Pro plan ($199), which works out cheaper than buying the two separately. Unlike LegalZoom, which charges $249/year for registered agent service as an add-on, both ZenBusiness and Northwest treat it as a core feature rather than an upsell. If budget is the deciding factor, see our cheapest registered agent service breakdown for the full landscape.

Step 3: File the Certificate of Formation

This is the legal moment your LLC comes into existence. New Hampshire calls the filing the Certificate of Formation (Form LLC-1), and you have two ways to submit it:

Online via NH QuickStart at quickstart.sos.nh.gov — $102 ($100 filing fee + $2 portal surcharge). Approval is typically same-day to 2 business days in 2026.
By mail to the Corporation Division, 107 North Main Street, Room 204, Concord, NH 03301 — $100. Processing usually runs 7–14 business days plus mail time, so realistically 3 weeks.

The online route is faster, cheaper than the gas to mail it, and gives you a stamped PDF the same day in most cases. There’s almost no reason to file by mail in 2026 unless you have a specific reason to want a paper acknowledgment.

You’ll need the following information ready:

Exact LLC name (with “LLC” or “Limited Liability Company”)
Principal office address (can be in any state, but New Hampshire LLCs commonly use their NH operating address)
Registered agent name and New Hampshire street address
Nature of business — a short statement of purpose. “Any lawful business” is acceptable in New Hampshire.
Management structure — member-managed or manager-managed (see our LLC member vs manager-managed guide for the practical difference)
Names and addresses of organizers — the people signing the Certificate. The organizer doesn’t have to be a member.
Effective date — immediate, or a future date up to 90 days out (useful if you want a January 1 start for clean tax accounting)

The “Nature of Business” question. Don’t overthink this. Either write a brief sentence about what you actually do (“Provide residential general contracting services in the Seacoast region”) or use the catch-all “Any lawful business permitted under New Hampshire RSA 304-C.” Both are fine; the catch-all is what most attorneys file because it preserves flexibility if your business pivots.

Once accepted, you’ll receive a stamped Certificate of Formation by email. Save that PDF. Your bank will ask for it when you open the business account, the IRS may want to see it during EIN issuance, and you’ll occasionally need it for vendor onboarding.

Step 4: Create an Operating Agreement

New Hampshire does not require an operating agreement to form your LLC. You do not file it with the state. But — and this is where I’ll get on my soapbox for a paragraph — operating without one is a real risk, especially for multi-member LLCs.

The operating agreement is the internal contract among the members. It defines ownership percentages, how profits and losses are split, who can sign contracts, what happens if a member dies or wants out, and how disputes are resolved. Without one, you’re governed entirely by New Hampshire RSA 304-C’s default rules — which are reasonable but rarely match what the founders actually intended. I’ve sat through too many late-stage disputes that would have been a 10-minute conversation if there’d been a written agreement on day one.

For single-member LLCs, the operating agreement also helps preserve your limited liability shield. Courts looking at whether to “pierce the corporate veil” will ask whether the LLC was operating as a separate entity from the owner. An operating agreement is one of the simplest pieces of evidence that it was.

Costs:

Free template. Many state-bar association sites and reputable formation services publish templates. They’re acceptable for simple single-member LLCs.
Formation service template — ZenBusiness includes a customizable operating agreement with their Pro plan, and Tailor Brands bundles one into most paid tiers.
Attorney-drafted agreement — typically $500–$2,000 for a multi-member LLC. Worth it if you have unequal capital contributions, vesting, buy-sell provisions, or outside investors.

Our LLC operating agreement guide walks through the key sections clause-by-clause if you want to draft your own and need a checklist of what to include.

Step 5: Get an EIN from the IRS

The Employer Identification Number is your business’s federal tax ID. You’ll need it to:

Open a business bank account
Hire employees and run payroll
File federal tax returns
Apply for business credit cards in the LLC’s name
Register for New Hampshire business taxes (BPT, BET) once you cross the threshold

How to get one. Apply directly on the IRS website at irs.gov/ein. It takes about 15 minutes, you’ll receive the EIN immediately in PDF form, and it’s free. Any service that charges you for “EIN procurement” is charging for paperwork the IRS does for free.

A common gotcha: the IRS online EIN application is only available between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. Plan accordingly.

If you’d rather have the formation service handle the EIN as part of the package, ZenBusiness includes EIN procurement in their Pro plan, and Bizee bundles it into their Gold tier. It’s a convenience, not a necessity.

Step 6: Register for New Hampshire Business Taxes

Even though New Hampshire has no personal income tax or sales tax, your LLC may owe two business-side taxes once you cross the filing thresholds:

Business Profits Tax (BPT) — 7.5% on net taxable business income, owed if your LLC’s gross business income exceeds the BPT filing threshold (verify the current 2026 number with the Department of Revenue Administration).
Business Enterprise Tax (BET) — 0.55% on the sum of wages, interest, and dividends paid by the LLC, owed once you cross the BET threshold.

Most freelancers and very small LLCs are under both thresholds and owe neither. But if you’re projecting six figures of revenue, register through the NH DRA Granite Tax Connect portal and budget for quarterly estimated payments. Our LLC quarterly tax payments guide covers the timing and calculation framework.

Federal tax treatment. By default, the IRS treats a single-member LLC as a “disregarded entity” (taxed on Schedule C of your personal return) and a multi-member LLC as a partnership (Form 1065 with K-1s to members). You can elect S-corp taxation by filing Form 2553 if it makes sense for your situation — we cover the threshold question in LLC vs S-corp: which is better for taxes. Generally, the S-corp election starts to make sense around $80K–$100K of net profit for a single-member LLC, but talk to a CPA about your specific numbers.

Step 7: File Your First Annual Report

New Hampshire requires every LLC to file an annual report with the Corporation Division by April 1 each year, beginning the year after formation. The fee is $100 online via QuickStart, or $100 plus a paper-filing surcharge if you mail it.

The report itself is short — name, principal office address, registered agent, and a few yes/no questions. It usually takes 10 minutes online. The penalty for missing the April 1 deadline is steep: a $50 late fee plus eventual administrative dissolution of the LLC if you let it lapse for a full reporting cycle. Reinstating a dissolved LLC is a multi-step pain (see our how to reinstate a dissolved LLC walkthrough), so set a calendar reminder for March 1 the first year.

One scheduling tip. If you formed your LLC late in the year — say, November or December 2026 — you’ll still owe the April 1, 2027 annual report. The state doesn’t prorate. Founders forming in Q4 sometimes wait until January to file the Certificate to skip an early annual report cycle. It’s a defensible move if you’re not actually doing business yet.

Step 8: File the BOI Report with FinCEN

This isn’t a New Hampshire-specific requirement, but it applies to every newly-formed LLC in the country and the deadlines bite hard. The federal Corporate Transparency Act requires most LLCs to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN, disclosing the people who own or control the company.

The reporting landscape has shifted significantly in 2025–2026 — the rules have been modified, paused, and reinstated multiple times through litigation. As of 2026, the safe assumption is that newly formed LLCs must file the BOI within 30 days of formation. Penalties for late filing run $591 per day (adjusted for inflation), with potential criminal exposure for willful violations.

Filing is free, takes about 20 minutes, and is done directly at fincen.gov. Don’t pay a service hundreds of dollars to do it for you unless you genuinely want hand-holding. Our step-by-step walkthroughs are here:

I cannot overstate this: the daily-penalty math gets ugly fast. Set a calendar reminder for the 25th day after your Certificate of Formation is accepted and just file it. It’s the single highest-stakes, lowest-effort filing in the entire LLC lifecycle.

Step 9: Open a Business Bank Account

Mixing personal and business finances is the single fastest way to undermine the liability protection your LLC provides. Courts call this “commingling,” and it’s a top reason judges pierce the veil in litigation. Open a dedicated business checking account within a week of getting your EIN.

You’ll typically need:

Your stamped Certificate of Formation (the PDF from Step 3)
Your EIN confirmation letter
Your operating agreement (single-member: a one-page version is fine; multi-member: bring the full thing)
A photo ID for each signer
The initial deposit (usually $25–$100)

New Hampshire has solid regional options — Bank of New Hampshire, St. Mary’s Bank, Service Credit Union — alongside the national online players. For new LLCs, I usually steer founders toward an online-only business bank (Mercury, Relay, Bluevine) for the lower fees and better integrations, unless you specifically need cash deposits or branch service.

What Does It All Cost? A Year-One Budget for a New Hampshire LLC

Here’s a realistic year-one cost breakdown for a typical single-member NH LLC formed in 2026, depending on whether you DIY or use a service:

Line Item	DIY	With ZenBusiness Pro
Certificate of Formation filing fee	$102	$102
Registered agent	$0 (self) or $125/yr (Northwest)	Included (year 1)
Operating agreement	$0 (template) or $500+ (attorney)	Included
EIN	Free	Included
BOI filing	Free (DIY at fincen.gov)	$0 separate
Annual report (year 1 due April 1, 2027)	$100	$100
Formation service fee	$0	$199
Year-one total (low end)	~$202	~$401
Year-one total (with paid registered agent)	~$327	~$401

The “ZenBusiness Pro” column is essentially flat: you trade roughly $200 for a year of bundled registered agent service, operating agreement template, EIN procurement, and a single dashboard for everything. Whether that’s worth it depends on how much you value your time. For owners running a business already, it usually is. Our full ZenBusiness review and ZenBusiness vs LegalZoom comparison go deeper.

For year two onwards, you’re looking at $100/year for the annual report plus whatever you pay for registered agent (anywhere from $0 to $300 depending on your setup). New Hampshire is not a particularly expensive state to maintain an LLC in once you’re past formation.

DIY vs. Using a Formation Service: My Honest Take

After helping a lot of founders through this, here’s where I land:

DIY makes sense if:

You’re comfortable reading state filing instructions and IRS forms.
You only have one LLC to form.
You’re willing to act as your own registered agent (and accept your home address being public).
You have a couple of focused hours to spend on it.

A formation service makes sense if:

You want privacy on the public filing (registered agent service uses their address).
You want everything — Certificate, registered agent, operating agreement, EIN — done in one transaction.
Your time is worth more than $150–$200.
You’d rather have a dashboard that tracks annual reports and renewals so you don’t miss April 1.

I’m a fan of ZenBusiness for most New Hampshire founders because the Pro plan ($199) effectively pays for itself in time saved and includes a year of registered agent, which alone is worth $125. LegalZoom is the legacy option — they’ll do the job, but you’re paying name-brand pricing and they nickel-and-dime add-ons. Unlike LegalZoom which charges $249/year for ongoing registered agent service, Northwest’s $125/year flat rate is a much better deal if you go that route. The full landscape is in our best LLC formation services comparison hub.

Common Mistakes I See with New Hampshire LLCs

A few patterns I see repeatedly that are worth flagging:

Forgetting the BOI filing. Founders fixate on the Certificate of Formation and forget the FinCEN report. The $591/day penalty math is genuinely painful — covered in BOI late filing penalty 2026.
Underestimating BPT/BET exposure. Founders read “no income tax in New Hampshire” and assume they owe the state nothing. Once you cross the business thresholds, you owe — and quarterly estimated payments are expected.
Filing as a foreign LLC out-of-state. Someone forms in Delaware “for tax reasons” while living in Manchester and ends up paying both states. Almost always a mistake. Form where you operate.
Skipping the operating agreement. Especially with multi-member LLCs. The cost of drafting one upfront is a tiny fraction of the cost of a dispute three years later.
Using a P.O. box as the registered agent address. New Hampshire requires a physical street address. The filing will be rejected.
Missing the April 1 annual report. $50 late fee and a slow path to administrative dissolution. Calendar it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to start an LLC in New Hampshire?

Filing the Certificate of Formation online costs $102 ($100 plus a $2 portal surcharge) in 2026. The mail-in fee is $100. After that, you’ll owe the $100 annual report fee each April 1. Beyond the state fees, optional costs include a registered agent service ($99–$300/year), an operating agreement (free template to $2,000 attorney-drafted), and a formation service package ($0–$300).

How long does it take to form an LLC in New Hampshire?

Online filings through the NH QuickStart portal are typically approved same-day to 2 business days. Mail-in filings take 7–14 business days plus mail time. If you use a formation service, the timeline mirrors the state’s processing speed since the state has to approve the filing either way.

Do I need a registered agent for my New Hampshire LLC?

Yes. New Hampshire law requires every LLC to designate a registered agent with a physical street address in New Hampshire who is available during business hours. You can be your own registered agent if you’re a New Hampshire resident with an address you’re willing to make public. Most owners hire a commercial service for privacy.

Does New Hampshire have an annual report for LLCs?

Yes. Every New Hampshire LLC must file an annual report by April 1 each year through the QuickStart portal. The fee is $100. Missing the deadline triggers a $50 late fee, and prolonged non-filing leads to administrative dissolution of the LLC.

What taxes does a New Hampshire LLC pay?

New Hampshire has no personal income tax (the Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed effective January 1, 2025) and no state sales tax. However, LLCs may owe the Business Profits Tax (7.5%) on net business income above the filing threshold and the Business Enterprise Tax (0.55%) on wages, interest, and dividends paid above the BET threshold. Most very small LLCs owe neither.

Can I be my own registered agent in New Hampshire?

Yes, if you’re a New Hampshire resident with a physical street address (not a P.O. box) and you’re available during business hours to accept service of process. The trade-off is that your home address becomes part of the public record. Most founders eventually hire a commercial registered agent service for privacy and reliability.

Do I need to file a BOI report for my New Hampshire LLC?

Yes, in most cases. The federal Corporate Transparency Act requires newly-formed LLCs to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN within 30 days of formation in 2026. Filing is free at fincen.gov and takes about 20 minutes. Penalties for late filing are $591/day. There are limited exemptions for certain regulated entities — see our BOI exemptions guide for the full list.

Is New Hampshire a good state to form an LLC?

For New Hampshire residents who operate locally, yes — low filing fees, no personal income tax, no sales tax, and a simple annual report make it a reasonable home for an LLC. For non-residents trying to “shop states” for tax advantages, no — you’ll owe New Hampshire business taxes and have to register back home as a foreign LLC anyway. Form where you actually do business.

The Bottom Line

Starting an LLC in New Hampshire in 2026 is a one-evening project if you’re doing it yourself: $102 for the Certificate of Formation, a free EIN from the IRS, a free BOI filing with FinCEN, and a calendar reminder for April 1, 2027 for your first annual report. Add a registered agent service if you value privacy, an operating agreement if you have partners, and a quarterly check-in with a CPA once your revenue starts pushing toward the BPT and BET thresholds.

If you’d rather skip the paperwork entirely and have a service handle the Certificate, registered agent, operating agreement, and EIN in a single package, ZenBusiness is where I’d send most New Hampshire founders — $0 formation fee plus the state’s $102, with the Pro plan ($199) bundling everything you actually need for year one. For maximum privacy with a flat $125/year registered agent rate, Northwest Registered Agent is the alternative. Either way, you’ll be in business by the end of the week.

If you’re still weighing whether you even need an LLC for what you’re doing, start with do I need an LLC for my business and LLC vs sole proprietorship — the entity question is worth answering before the formation question.

The author name used in this article may be a pen name or pseudonym and is used for illustrative and editorial purposes only. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. State filing fees, tax thresholds, and federal reporting requirements change — verify current numbers with the New Hampshire Secretary of State, the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, and FinCEN before filing. Consult qualified professionals before making financial decisions.