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How to Form an LLC in New Hampshire

New Hampshire charges $100 to form an LLC on paper, $102 online once the $2 state electronic handling charge is added, and then $100 every year for an annual report due between January 1 and April 1. The state gives a defaulting company a long runway, two consecutive years, before administrative dissolution, but prices the way back in two tiers: $135 for reinstatement within three years, and a separate $500 late reinstatement after three years. A foreign LLC needs no home state certificate here either, only an affirmation of good standing written into the statute, and the two entity level business taxes are real but income and base based, so they never enter a flat total.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The New Hampshire filing steps

1. Check your name on the state's own search

   Search the Secretary of State's records before you file. Under RSA 304-C:32, I(a), a New Hampshire LLC name shall contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC" or any other similar abbreviation, it may contain the name of a member or manager, and under RSA 304-C:32, II it shall not contain language stating or implying it is organized for a purpose other than one permitted by RSA 304-C:21 and by its certificate of formation. Under RSA 304-C:32, III, the name, based on the Secretary of State's records, shall be distinguishable from, and not the same as, the name of an entity incorporated, authorized, formed, or registered in this state under the listed New Hampshire statutes including RSA 349 trade names, a reserved name, the fictitious name of another foreign entity authorized here, a government agency or subdivision name, or a recognized political party's name without written consent, and it may not use "farmers' market" unless the entity meets the RSA 21:34-a, V definition. RSA 304-C:32, III-a lists factors that do not make a name distinguishable, including an article, plural forms, phonetic spelling, an abbreviation in place of a complete spelling, punctuation or spacing differences, and Arabic, Roman, or word forms of the same number in the same position. A search does not reserve the name. To hold one, file a name reservation for $15 under RSA 304-C:191, II(a); under RSA 304-C:27, III, the Secretary of State reserves the name for your exclusive use for 120 days, and, unlike Montana, the same applicant may again reserve the same name for successive 120 day periods. A reservation is transferable and cancellable by signed notice.

2. Choose your registered agent

   New Hampshire uses the registered agent and registered office wording, and the duty is continuous. Under RSA 304-C:36, I, each LLC shall have and maintain in New Hampshire a registered office, which may be the same as any of its places of business, and a registered agent, which may be an individual who resides in this state and whose residential or business office is identical with the registered office; a corporation organized or authorized under RSA 292, RSA 293-A, or RSA 294-A whose business office is identical with the registered office; an LLC formed or authorized under the Act, or a professional LLC under RSA 304-D, whose business office is identical with the registered office; or a limited liability partnership formed or authorized under RSA 304-A:44 whose business office is identical with the registered office. Form LLC-1's instructions add that the registered office is the agent's business address, a street or physical address must be provided, and an application will not be processed without an agent named or if an out of state address is listed. Change the office or agent with Form 10, a statement of change under RSA 304-C:36, II, for $15 under RSA 304-C:191, II(b), and the same $15 applies to an agent's own address change statement; Form 10 states the fee is waived if the change is submitted on the annual report during the January 1 through April 1 filing period. An agent's resignation under RSA 304-C:36, III and IV terminates the appointment 31 days after filing or on appointment of a successor, whichever occurs first. Keep the record current: being without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more is a ground for administrative dissolution under RSA 304-C:136, III.

3. File the Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State

   File the Certificate of Formation, Form LLC-1, with the Secretary of State, Corporation Division, under RSA 304-C:31. The statutory fee is $100 under RSA 304-C:191, II(c), and Form LLC-1 states the same $100 total payable to the State of New Hampshire. File online through NH QuickStart, by mail on Form LLC-1, or in person. Filed electronically, the total is $102, because the Secretary of State FAQ states that under RSA 5:10-a all fees received electronically by the State of New Hampshire carry an additional $2.00 handling charge. The Secretary of State states the current processing time for filings submitted online is 10 to 15 business days, and that expedited service is available in person in the Customer Lobby for an additional $25 fee. Under RSA 304-C:31, I, one or more authorized persons shall deliver a certificate of formation to the Secretary of State for filing, and RSA 304-C:20 provides the company must have at least one member but may have any greater number, so a single member LLC is authorized. Under RSA 304-C:31, II, the certificate states the name of the company; the address of the registered office and the name and address of the registered agent required by RSA 304-C:36; the nature of the primary business or the purpose of the company, with a later move into another lawful purpose stated in the operating agreement not invalid merely because it was not set forth in the certificate; a statement whether the company is to be managed by its members or by persons, who may also be members, appointed as its managers under its operating agreement; and any other matters the members or managers decide to include. No member names are required by RSA 304-C:31, II itself, and Form LLC-1 treats principal business information as optional, using the registered agent address as the principal office address if none is listed. Under RSA 304-C:31, III, the company is formed on the date and at the time of filing unless an effective time and date are specified; RSA 304-C:29 allows a delayed effective date not later than the 90th day after filing.

4. Get an EIN from the IRS

   Free, online, and takes minutes once your New Hampshire filing is approved. Never pay a service for this. See EIN for an LLC for the walkthrough and the one IRS rule (a real person as responsible party) that surprises people.

5. Write your operating agreement

   New Hampshire is at the opposite end of the writing question from a written only state. Under RSA 304-C:16, an operating agreement means any agreement, including amendments or restatements, of the members as to the internal affairs of the company or the conduct of its business, and under RSA 304-C:40, unless a written operating agreement provides otherwise, an operating agreement, including amendments, may be written, oral, or implied by course of dealing or otherwise. Written form is therefore not required by the Act. RSA 304-C:2 states the policy behind that flexibility: to give the maximum effect to the principle of freedom of contract and to the enforceability of operating agreements. The defaults yield to the agreement throughout: unless the operating agreement provides otherwise, the company is managed by its members, and an agreement may provide for management in whole or in part by managers, under RSA 304-C:47, I and II, though the certificate of formation must state which structure applies. The Secretary of State FAQ is plain that bylaws and operating agreements govern the internal affairs of the business and are not filed in that office, and RSA 304-C:191 sets no fee for one. An oral or implied agreement is lawful here and still a poor way to run a multi member company, because a dispute will be decided on what can be proved; write it at formation even though the state does not make you.

6. Open the business bank account and handle licenses

   Bring your approved formation document and EIN letter. Then check your city and county for a general business license and your industry for state permits. The Certificate of Formation filing does not itself cover industry permits or local licenses. Check your industry regulator and your city or town before you operate, and handle Department of Revenue Administration tax registration and returns separately, because those offices, not the Secretary of State formation filing, govern those steps and any charges that come with them.

Filing details that trip people up

• The online formation total is $102, and the extra $2 is a state handling charge, not a service fee. The statutory Certificate of Formation fee is $100 under RSA 304-C:191, II(c). The Secretary of State FAQ states that under RSA 5:10-a, all fees received electronically by the State of New Hampshire will be charged an additional $2.00 handling charge, so an electronic filing of the $100 certificate is $102 in total. The same $2 applies to other electronic filings, including the annual report and a trade name registration. This site's calculator uses the $100 statutory fee and carries the $102 online total in its label and note, exactly as the cost page does.
• Foreign LLCs pay $100, and no home state certificate is filed. The statute takes an affirmation instead. RSA 304-C:175, V, as amended effective November 1, 2023, requires the registration application to include an affirmation that the entity is in good standing with the agency where its certificate of formation is filed in its home jurisdiction. No separate home state certificate of good standing, and no freshness window such as 30 or 90 days, is listed in RSA 304-C:175. Do not import another state's certificate and freshness rule into New Hampshire. One practical consequence on Form FLLC-1: if the company name is not available in New Hampshire, the name to be used here is entered and a trade name application must be filed with an additional $50.00 fee.
• One missed April 1 costs $50 and Not in Good Standing status. Dissolution takes two consecutive years. Under RSA 304-C:191, II(f), failure or refusal to file the annual report or pay its fee on or before April 1 adds a $50 late filing fee. The Secretary of State places a registration that is not filed and paid by April 1 in Not in Good Standing status, and only after failing to file for two consecutive years is the business administratively dissolved, under the two year and 60 day grounds in RSA 304-C:136, I and II. The report page carries the full sequence, including the $135 and $500 reinstatement tiers.
• A trade name costs $50 for five years, and an LLC needs one only for a name other than its registered legal name. New Hampshire's DBA is trade name registration with the Secretary of State under RSA 349, on Form TN-1. RSA 349:1, II carves LLCs registered under RSA 304-C out of the chapter except as they may be doing business under trade names other than the names under which they are registered, so an LLC operating under its exact registered legal name needs no trade name filing, and an LLC operating under any other name must register that name. The fee is $50 under RSA 349:7, the term is 5 years under RSA 349:6, and renewal is $50. Our DBA guide covers the details.
• Closing takes a single $35 Certificate of Cancellation, but a Department of Revenue Administration certificate comes before assets are distributed. The Secretary of State filing that ends the entity is the Certificate of Cancellation under RSA 304-C:142, for $35. Separately, RSA 304-C:141, I requires the company, before making any distributions of assets to members and managers on winding up, to first obtain a certificate of dissolution from the Department of Revenue Administration under RSA 77-A:18. That certificate is a precondition to distributing assets, not a filing precondition written into RSA 304-C:142 itself, and the report page states both points as the statute states them.

After your New Hampshire LLC is approved

Get the EIN, open the business bank account, and handle Department of Revenue Administration taxes for the business: the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax summarized on the cost page are entity level taxes that follow the business's own activity and thresholds, and they do not disappear because the LLC passes its federal income through to its members. At summary level, the Department's overview gives partnership returns due March 15 and corporate, proprietorship, and fiduciary returns due April 15, with the category for a given LLC following its tax classification. Then set the recurring reminder: the annual report, $100, delivered between January 1 and April 1 each year, with information current as of January 1, a $50 late fee after April 1, and Not in Good Standing status until it is filed and paid. Keep the registered office and agent current too; a standalone statement of change is $15, and the same change is free if it is submitted on the annual report during the January 1 through April 1 window. If the business will operate under a name other than its registered legal name, budget the $50 trade name registration and its five year renewal.

The full recurring picture for New Hampshire, with fees and due dates, is on the New Hampshire annual report and compliance page, and the money view is on the New Hampshire LLC cost page.

New Hampshire LLC questions