What a New Hampshire LLC Actually Costs

The unavoidable upfront cost is the state fee to file your Certificate of Formation (Form LLC-1) with the New Hampshire Secretary of State. That single fee registers your LLC and includes the registered agent designation — there's no separate line item for naming your agent on the formation document.

New Hampshire charges a small additional portal processing fee on online filings through QuickStart, so the online total is slightly higher than the base mail figure. Walk-in filing at the state office costs more than either. The receipt card on this page reflects the actual state total for the filing method it's set to, so you're seeing the real number rather than an estimate.

What the formation fee does and doesn't include

• Included: registration of your LLC and the registered agent designation on the Certificate of Formation.
• Not included: an EIN (free from the IRS), an operating agreement (you draft it or have it drafted separately), and any trade name registration if you'll operate under a different name.

This is genuinely a one-time cost. You pay it once to bring the LLC into existence; you don't pay it again unless you dissolve and re-form.

Every New Hampshire LLC owes an annual report fee each year to stay in good standing. The report is filed through QuickStart between January 1 and April 1, and like the formation filing, online submissions include the small portal fee. The receipt card shows the current amount.

The one that bites: the late penalty

If you miss the April 1 deadline, New Hampshire adds a $50 late penalty on top of the ordinary annual report fee. It's an entirely avoidable cost — the report itself is simple and non-financial — but it's the most common surprise charge owners run into. Keep failing to file and the state administratively dissolves the LLC, at which point getting it back costs more than a decade of on-time reports would have.

Budget it as a fixed yearly line

Treat the annual report fee as a predictable recurring expense, like a subscription. It's small, it's due the same time every year, and the only way it grows is if you forget it.

You must have a registered agent, but you can supply one for free by serving as your own — assuming you have a New Hampshire street address and are available during business hours. If you'd rather not, a commercial registered agent service is an annual expense.

Free (be your own agent)

No cash cost, but real trade-offs: your address goes on the public record, you have to be present to receive service of process, and you have to update the state every time you move. For some owners that's fine; for many it's worth paying to avoid.

Paid (commercial service)

A commercial agent charges an annual fee in exchange for keeping your address private, guaranteeing availability, and forwarding your legal and state mail promptly. If you work in the field, travel, run the business from home, or just don't want your address searchable, this is where most owners decide the cost is worth it. When registered agent service is bundled with a formation package, it's often the best value.

Beyond the state filing and the annual report, several costs apply only to some owners.

Trade name (DBA)

If you'll operate under a name different from your legal LLC name, you register a trade name with the Secretary of State. A New Hampshire trade name lasts five years before renewal. If you'll only ever use your legal LLC name, you can skip this entirely.

Name reservation

If you want to hold a name before you're ready to file, a name reservation costs a small state fee and locks the name for a limited period. Optional — most people just file when they're ready.

Foreign qualification

If your LLC was formed in another state and you're expanding into New Hampshire, you file for a Certificate of Authority, which has its own state fee and usually requires a certificate of good standing from your home state. This applies only to out-of-state LLCs.

Business taxes

New Hampshire's Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax, administered by the Department of Revenue Administration, may apply depending on your gross receipts and enterprise base. Many small LLCs fall below the filing thresholds, but if you cross them, that's a real annual cost separate from anything the Secretary of State charges.

Professional help

An attorney for a custom operating agreement or a CPA for your taxes are optional but common expenses. They're not state fees, but they belong in an honest cost picture.

Year one

Your first year carries the formation filing fee plus, if you use one, a registered agent's annual fee. If you register a trade name, that's an additional one-time-per-five-years cost. Your annual report is not due in the same calendar sequence as formation — the first report comes due the following filing window, by April 1.

Every year after

Steady-state, an LLC that uses its legal name and stays below the business-tax thresholds has two predictable recurring costs: the annual report fee and, if applicable, the registered agent's annual fee. That's it from the state's side. (Owners who form through Mainstay see a simpler version of this math — one flat yearly price already carrying the agent and the report preparation and filing, plus the state's own report fee passed through at cost.) The costs that inflate a New Hampshire LLC's yearly expense are almost always avoidable ones — late penalties, reinstatement after dissolution, or scrambling to fix a lapsed registered agent — which is exactly why staying on top of the April 1 deadline pays for itself.