The rules where you work $17
A first 30 days checklist, everyday forms, licenses, workers’ comp and taxes for New Hampshire, with a yearly calendar. Instant PDF download.
Buy the packet: $17Digital product, all sales final. Informational only, not legal, financial, tax or business advice.
What New Hampshire expects from a new trade business
New Hampshire has no general sales tax and no personal income tax on your earnings, which is real freedom. The bill comes through business taxes instead. Workers' comp starts with your first hire, you're on the hook for a sub's uninsured crew, and a lien here isn't a recorded form: it lasts 120 days and you hold it with a court attachment.
Electrical, plumbing and gas are licensed. General contracting: confirm it.
Electricians are licensed through the Electricians' Board. A license takes 8,000 apprentice hours, at least 600 hours of education and an exam. A journeyman has to work for a licensed master or licensed company, so going out on your own means a master license. Doing electrical work without a license is a crime. There's a narrow exception for incidental electrical work on miscellaneous manual jobs. Don't build a business on it.
Plumbing and fuel gas fitting run through the Mechanical Licensing Board. A plumbing or gas company needs its own license, with a licensed person of record, good standing with the Secretary of State and proof of liability insurance.
General contracting, remodeling, roofing, handyman: no state license turned up in what was read for this guide, which was the statutes for those trades and the agency rules. That's a reading, not a rule the state has stated. Confirm with the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification and your town's building department before you bid.
Source: NH RSA Chapter 319-C, Electricians · NH RSA Chapter 153, Mechanical Licensing · NH Admin. Code Saf-Mec 302.01 (copy at Cornell LII) · NH Admin. Code Saf-Mec 302.05 (copy at Cornell LII)
Who to call: an attorney near you
One employee and you're in
You're an employer once you employ one person, in any trade. The Department of Labor's rules count part-timers and say the duty starts before you hire. Up to 3 corporate officers or LLC members don't count as employees, so an LLC with only its owner doesn't appear to be an employer. Solo owners can elect to cover themselves.
A 1099 doesn't settle it. Anyone you pay is presumed to be your employee unless that person meets all seven tests in the statute, such as controlling how and when the work gets done.
You carry an uninsured sub's crew. If you sub out work and the sub didn't secure comp, you're liable for comp to the sub's employees. You can try to recover it from the sub.
Skipping coverage can cost up to $2,500, plus up to $100 per employee per day, for up to a year. Whoever controls the money and knowingly fails can be personally liable, and purposely failing is a class B felony. Talk to an insurance agent who writes contractors.
Source: NH RSA Chapter 281-A, Workers' Compensation · NH Admin. Code Lab 303.10 (copy at Cornell LII) · NH Admin. Code Lab 304.01 (copy at Cornell LII)
Who to call: an insurance agent near you
120 days, and you hold it in court
New Hampshire works differently from most states. Chapter 447 has no claim of lien to record. You get the lien by law if you meet its terms, and you lock it in with a court attachment on the property.
The lien lasts 120 days after you do the work or furnish the materials, unless you're paid first (RSA 447:9). The attachment has to happen while the lien is alive, and the court papers have to say that's the purpose (RSA 447:10). The chapter sets no separate suit deadline on private jobs. It also doesn't say whether one clock covers a whole job, so count from your earliest unpaid work until an attorney says otherwise. Homes and commercial jobs get the same rules, with no owner-occupied exception.
Hired by a contractor or sub? Give the owner or person in charge written notice before you start. Later notice appears to limit you to what's still owed to whoever hired you (RSA 447:5, 447:6). Then send a written account every 30 days (RSA 447:8).
On a construction loan, anyone with a lien sends the lender written notice within 15 business days of the jobsite posting or starting work, whichever is later. Missing it doesn't alone kill the lien.
Public jobs differ: 90 days from completion and acceptance to file, and one year from a bond claim to petition the court. Call a construction attorney early. An attachment isn't something to start in the last week.
Source: NH RSA Chapter 447, Liens for Labor and Materials
Who to call: an attorney near you
No sales tax on your materials. Two business taxes instead.
The state's business agency says New Hampshire businesses pay no sales tax and no use tax. You don't collect it from your customer on a New Hampshire job.
The Business Profits Tax is 7.5%, and it reaches sole proprietors and LLCs too. You file if gross business income, before expenses, is over a line the state adjusts every two years. The statute prints $92,000 as the starting figure, so get the current one from the Department of Revenue Administration. A proprietor or LLC can deduct reasonable pay for the owner's own work.
The Business Enterprise Tax is 0.55% of what you pay out in wages, interest and dividends. The printed filing line goes from $250,000, as adjusted, to $400,000 on January 1, 2027. Ask the department which line fits your return. What you pay in this tax can be credited against the Profits Tax.
Work or buy over the border and that state's rules are a separate question for a CPA who works with contractors.
Source: NH Business and Economic Affairs: Low Tax Burden · NH RSA Chapter 77-A, Business Profits Tax · NH RSA Chapter 77-E, Business Enterprise Tax
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
$100 to form, $100 a year, and a tax line to watch
Forming an LLC with the New Hampshire Secretary of State costs $100, plus a $2 handling charge online. The annual report is $100 (plus $2 online), due by April 1, with a $50 late fee the state says it can't waive. Miss two years and the state dissolves you. You need a registered agent in the state. No publication to form.
The state says there's no personal income tax on your earnings. Instead, it taxes the business itself, and a single-member LLC files its own state business tax returns, on Form NH 1040 if the member is an individual.
So the S-corp question here is about more than self-employment tax. Bring your numbers to a CPA who works with contractors.
Source: NH Secretary of State: LLC forms and fees · NH Secretary of State: Business FAQs · NH RSA Chapter 304-C, Limited Liability Companies · NH Business and Economic Affairs: Incentives · NH Admin. Code Rev 307.01 (copy at Cornell LII)
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
Education, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Confirm anything here with a licensed pro in New Hampshire before you rely on it. Last updated November 2026.