New Hampshire sales tax calculator

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New Hampshire has no general state sales or use tax, and no local sales tax either. A retailer selling goods or services in New Hampshire does not collect sales tax from customers at the point of sale. There is no product-taxability question to answer for clothing, food, software, or any other category, the way there would be in a sales-tax state.

What New Hampshire does impose is a separate Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax. It is not a general sales tax but a targeted tax on specific transactions. It reaches meals prepared and served by a restaurant or other eating establishment. It also reaches occupancy of a hotel or other room rental, and rental of motor vehicles.

The statute draws the meals line by the food, not the storefront. A "meal" is generally any food or beverage prepared for immediate consumption and provided by a restaurant. That includes take-out, delivered, and catered meals and beverages in unsealed containers, alcoholic or not.

A "restaurant" includes a cafe, coffee shop, catering business, tavern, food truck, and the food counter inside a convenience or grocery store. So a store that sells prepared food or poured drinks collects the tax on those sales. That holds even though the rest of what it sells is ordinary goods.

The average American side hustle brings in about $2,038 a month, according to Intuit QuickBooks entrepreneurship research. At that size, a New Hampshire seller's question isn't what rate to charge. It's whether what you sell is a meal, a room, or a motor vehicle rental. Those sellers collect the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax. A seller of ordinary tangible goods or general services does not.

Whether you run a boutique in Portsmouth, a restaurant in Manchester, or a landscaping crew in Nashua, here's what New Hampshire's no-sales-tax rule means for your invoices. You'll also see which sellers collect the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax instead, and what to know at filing time.

There is no New Hampshire sales tax rate. New Hampshire has no general state sales or use tax, and no local sales tax. So the answer is the same at every New Hampshire address: none.

• New Hampshire state sales tax — None. No general sales or use tax is levied. New Hampshire's tax statutes (RSA Title V) impose targeted taxes instead, among them the Meals and Rooms Tax (RSA 78-A), administered by the Department of Revenue Administration.
• Local sales tax — None. New Hampshire has no local sales tax. The Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax is a state-level tax, not a local option tax.

A retailer selling goods or services in New Hampshire does not collect sales tax from customers at the point of sale. The Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax does not change that. A seller of ordinary tangible goods or general services does not collect it. And it should not be treated as a stand-in for a general sales tax on other product categories.

New Hampshire's Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax is not a general sales tax but a targeted tax on specific transactions:

• meals prepared and served by a restaurant or other eating establishment (including take-out, delivered, and catered meals);
• occupancy of a hotel or other room rental;
• rental of motor vehicles.

A seller of prepared meals, room rentals, or motor vehicle rentals in New Hampshire needs to collect this tax. A seller of ordinary tangible goods or general services does not. But a store, bakery, or other business that also sells prepared food or poured beverages collects it on those sales. It is a state-level tax administered by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, not a local option tax.

For the businesses that do collect it, here is how the statute describes the mechanics. It calls the collecting business an "operator": any person operating a hotel, charging for a taxable meal, or receiving gross rental receipts.

The tax is imposed on each occupancy, on each taxable meal, and on the gross receipts of each motor vehicle rental. The operator collects it from the occupant, purchaser, or renter and pays it over to the state. The Department puts it the same way. The tax "is paid by the consumer and is collected and remitted to the State" by operators of hotels, restaurants, or other businesses providing taxable meals, room rentals, and motor vehicle rentals.

On the receipt, the operator either states the amount of the tax or states that the tax is included in the price. The rate is set in RSA 78-A:6.

That rate is 8.5%. It applies to the rent for each occupancy and to the charge for each taxable meal. It also applies to the gross rental receipts of each motor vehicle rental.

Which meals, rooms, and rentals the tax reaches is defined in RSA 78-A. That statute also carries the tax's own exceptions. Those are questions for a restaurant, lodging, or rental operator, not for a seller of ordinary goods or general services.

But the statute's "restaurant" is wider than the word suggests. It means an eating or drinking establishment primarily engaged in providing meals. That includes a cafe, coffee shop, catering business, tavern, food truck, and a "restaurant portion." A "restaurant portion" is an area, section, or counter within a store that provides meals.

Bakery products are meals when a restaurant sells them in units of fewer than six. A bakery counts as a restaurant once it also sells coffee, soda, sandwiches, or prepared food. One that sells only baked goods to take home does not collect the tax. The Department of Revenue Administration's Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax page and FAQ are where to check a specific case.

None, for sales tax. A retailer selling goods or services in New Hampshire does not collect sales tax from customers at the point of sale. That holds whether the customer buys at your counter, orders online for delivery in New Hampshire, or hires you for a service. So there is no destination or origin rule to apply. New Hampshire has no sales tax to source.

A sale you ship to a customer in another state is a question of that state's sales tax law, not New Hampshire's. New Hampshire's own statute recognizes that other states may require a New Hampshire remote seller to collect and remit their sales or use tax. So check the destination state's rules before you treat an out-of-state shipment as tax-free.

The one question that does turn on what you sell is whether the sale is a meal, a room, or a motor vehicle rental. Those are the three transactions the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax reaches. Find your situation:

If you sell goods in person at your location: no sales tax. A retailer selling goods in New Hampshire does not collect sales tax from customers at the point of sale.

If you ship or deliver goods to New Hampshire customers: no sales tax at any New Hampshire address. There is also no local rate to look up, because New Hampshire has no local sales tax.

If you perform services: no sales tax on general services, whether you perform them at your location or at the customer's. A seller of general services in New Hampshire does not collect the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax either. Catering is the exception. The statute's "restaurant" includes a catering business, and a catered meal is a taxable meal.

If you sell meals, rent rooms, or rent motor vehicles: you collect the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax from your customer. "Meals" here includes take-out, delivered, and catered food and prepared food or drinks sold from a counter inside a store.

Each operator must register with the Department of Revenue Administration the name and address of each place of business within the state where it operates a hotel, sells taxable meals, or rents motor vehicles. Each operator must also hold the Meals and Rentals license the Department issues for each place. It must hold the license before serving taxable meals, renting rooms, or renting motor vehicles.

The tax is collected from the occupant, purchaser, or renter and paid over to the state. It goes on the operator's own monthly return, covered under filing below.

If you sell through a marketplace like Amazon or Etsy: no New Hampshire sales tax on those sales, for the same reason there is none on sales through your own website or at your counter. Whether another state's tax applies to an order shipped out of state is that state's question, covered above.

Rooms and motor vehicle rentals are different. If a platform offers, reserves, books, or otherwise arranges the rental, the statute treats that room or rental facilitator as an operator. The facilitator must demand and collect the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax from the occupant or renter and remit it to the state.

The Department says any room or motor vehicle rental facilitator doing business in New Hampshire must obtain a New Hampshire Meals and Rentals license. The facilitator must also collect the tax on the full price charged, including any fee, service, or other charge paid to the facilitator by the consumer.

If you're out of state selling into New Hampshire: New Hampshire does not impose a state-level sales tax. So no economic nexus threshold applies for state sales tax purposes. A remote seller has no state-level sales tax collection obligation in New Hampshire. You should still evaluate other potential tax obligations, such as gross receipts taxes, business license taxes, or excise taxes, where applicable.

Worked example. You build furniture in Concord and sell a $900 table.

• The customer picks it up at your Concord shop. There is no sales tax: the total is $900.
• You deliver the same table to a customer in Portsmouth. There is no sales tax there either, and no local rate to check: the total is $900.

The café next door is the exception. A meal it serves carries the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax. The café collects it from the customer and reports it on its own monthly return. Your table does not carry it.

The question doesn't arise. New Hampshire has no general sales or use tax. So there is no product-taxability question to answer for clothing, food, software, or any other category, the way there would be in a sales-tax state. There is nothing to sort into taxable and exempt for New Hampshire sales tax purposes. One exception is prepared food and beverages. Those fall under the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax described above, not a sales tax.

One practical point: the Department of Revenue Administration has no authority to issue a sales and use tax exemption certificate. New Hampshire does not issue certificates for resale or tax exemptions. The Department's Requests for Resale & Exempt Certificates page is there to be printed and presented to any entity that requires confirmation of that. The state does not issue Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax exempt certificates either.

New Hampshire has no general state use tax, just as it has no general state sales tax. It has no local use tax either. Say your New Hampshire business buys a $3,000 commercial espresso machine from an out-of-state vendor that charges no tax. You owe no New Hampshire use tax on it. The New Hampshire tax on that purchase is $0, and the total is the price.

The Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax is the exception. Your business pays it as a customer. Rent a car in Manchester for a sales trip, put a visiting client up in a Portsmouth hotel, or buy a staff lunch from a Nashua restaurant, and the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax is on the bill. The rental company, hotel, or restaurant collects it from you, and you pay it to them.

No. New Hampshire has no general sales tax. So there is no tax from which a holiday could provide temporary relief, and no tax-free weekend to plan around.

There is no New Hampshire sales tax return, because there is no New Hampshire sales tax to report.

The Department of Revenue Administration says a new business does not have to register with it. The business must still obtain the appropriate state tax forms to file. The Department also says there are licenses that must be obtained, among them for a meals, rooms, or motor vehicle rental operator. If that is your business, the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax has a filing calendar of its own:

Get the Meals and Rentals license first. RSA 78-A:4 requires each operator to register with the Department the name and address of each place of business within the state where it operates a hotel, sells taxable meals, or rents motor vehicles. The Department issues a Meals and Rentals license for each place. No person may serve taxable meals, rent rooms, or rent motor vehicles without first obtaining it. Applications go through the Department's online portal, Granite Tax Connect.

The license must be conspicuously posted in a public area on the premises it relates to. A separate license is required for catering. Licenses expire on June 30 in each odd-numbered year. The Department says a current license renews automatically. That holds as long as the licensee and its owners have no overdue unfiled returns, unpaid taxes, interest, or penalties from any tax the Department administers.

Returns are monthly and due on the 15th. Every operator files a return reporting the preceding month on or before the fifteenth day of the following month. The operator pays over the taxes collected by the same date. A return or payment counts as timely only if the Department receives it by the 15th. When the 15th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

Returns may be filed by mail or electronically through Granite Tax Connect. The Department says a paper return is not required if you file electronically. You must still retain the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) worksheet. Electronic filing is required for all operators with $25,000 or more in taxable revenue in a calendar year.

Timely filers keep 3%. An operator may retain 3 percent of the taxes due if the return and payment are received on time. The purpose is to compensate operators for keeping the prescribed records and remitting the tax. The Department lists the conditions: keep the prescribed records, file and pay on time, have no outstanding prior balance, and file by the proper method. An operator required to file electronically that files on paper loses the commission.

File every month, including zero months. The return must be filed even though no tax may be due. The Department says you must file even if you had no activity, unless you have applied to be a seasonal filer. The Department may authorize a seasonal business to file fewer than 12 monthly returns. An approved seasonal operator must file for each month of its approved season, even if no tax is due.

Keep the records for three years. Each operator keeps the books and records of its business for 3 years, open to inspection by the Department. The Department's list runs from the Meals and Rentals tax worksheet and e-file screen prints to cash register tapes, guest checks, and bank statements.

Tip: if your invoicing or point-of-sale system is applying a sales tax rate to sales delivered in New Hampshire, the right rate is zero. If you are a Meals and Rooms (Rentals) operator, the Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax your system charges on meals, rooms, or motor vehicle rentals is a different tax. You must collect it, and that line stays.

And if a rate error slips through, fix the rate first, then correct the affected returns. Undercollect and the difference comes out of your pocket. Overcollect and you owe refunds. Tax you collected as tax is never yours to keep.

There is nothing to calculate. New Hampshire has no state or local sales tax, so the pre-tax price is the total. A $1,200 sale in Manchester, Nashua, or anywhere else in New Hampshire carries $0 in sales tax and totals $1,200.

If your invoicing tool is adding sales tax to a sale delivered in New Hampshire, the rate is set wrong. That holds unless you are a Meals and Rooms (Rentals) operator and the line is that tax on a meal, room, or motor vehicle rental. That is a tax you must collect.

No. New Hampshire has no general state sales or use tax and no local sales tax. So a retailer selling goods or services in New Hampshire does not collect sales tax from customers at the point of sale. The Department of Revenue Administration's own answer is that "there is no general sales tax on goods purchased in New Hampshire." That holds at every address in Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Portsmouth, and the rest of the state.

What New Hampshire does impose is a separate Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax. It applies to meals prepared and served by a restaurant or other eating establishment, occupancy of a hotel or other room rental, and rental of motor vehicles. Meals include take-out, delivered, and catered meals, and prepared food or drinks sold from a counter inside a store. The sellers of those three things collect the tax. A seller of ordinary tangible goods or general services does not collect it.

Not sales tax. A meal prepared and served by a restaurant or other eating establishment is subject to New Hampshire's Meals and Rooms (Rentals) Tax. The restaurant, as the operator, collects it from the customer and pays it over to the state. It does so on a monthly return due the 15th of the following month.

The statute's "restaurant" is broad. It includes a cafe, coffee shop, catering business, tavern, food truck, and a food counter inside a convenience or grocery store. A "meal" includes take-out and delivered food and beverages in unsealed containers, alcoholic or not, with or without food.

The same tax applies to occupancy of a hotel or other room rental and to motor vehicle rentals. It is a state-level tax administered by the Department of Revenue Administration, not a local option tax. It should not be treated as a stand-in for a general sales tax on other product categories.

No. New Hampshire does not impose a state-level sales tax. So no economic nexus threshold applies for state sales tax purposes. Remote sellers have no state-level sales tax collection obligation in New Hampshire. Sellers should still evaluate other potential tax obligations, such as gross receipts taxes, business license taxes, or excise taxes, where applicable.

No. New Hampshire has no general sales tax. So there is no tax from which a holiday could provide temporary relief, and no tax-free weekend.

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You've got the rules that apply in New Hampshire. If you also sell into states that charge sales tax, the harder part is applying their rates correctly on every sale, every quarter. QuickBooks automated sales tax calculates the right combined rate, tracks what you've collected, and shows what you owe when it's time to file.