10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of cocktail bars in New Hampshire say.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 6Set up the business. Now: Certificate of formation (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 10 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File through NH QuickStart. The certificate names a registered agent with a New Hampshire street address. The first annual report is due the April after the year the LLC was formed; a company formed between December 1 and April 1 skips that first April.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed when a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC or corporation trades under any name other than its own legal or registered name. No newspaper notice is required. A registration not renewed within 30 days after it expires is cancelled and the name is released.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax accounts. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register through Granite Tax Connect. Apply for the Meals and Rentals operator’s license at least 30 days before opening and post it; every place of business needs its own. Retail shops, salons, gyms and daycares collect no state tax at the register at all, but still file the Business Profits and Business Enterprise Tax returns once they pass the thresholds.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Ask the town clerk and the code office what the town itself requires before signing the lease. Manchester and Nashua, among a few other cities, run their own health departments and license food establishments in place of the state.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use often needs site plan review by the planning board, then building permits and inspections, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the food license and the liquor license, which both ask for it.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Submit the plan review with the menu, the floor plan and the equipment list before building out, pass the pre-opening inspection, then post the license. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all food service establishments under RSA 143-A. In Manchester, Nashua and the other self-inspecting cities the city health department issues the license and sets its own fee.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
A new establishment has 45 days after its initial licensing inspection to have at least one certified food protection manager from an ANSI-CFP accredited program, and 90 days to replace one who leaves. With five or fewer food employees on duty the manager must be available, not necessarily present, and the certificate must be on hand for the inspector.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
A restaurant license needs a kitchen and a food service license, and a cocktail lounge is a bar area inside a licensed restaurant. A bar without a full kitchen looks at the other on-premises classes in RSA 178:22. Apply with the lease, the floor plan, the food license and the owners’ disclosures; the Commission inspects before issuing.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
File the Employer Status Report within 30 days of first paying wages in New Hampshire. Workers’ compensation insurance is required from the first employee, full or part time, and should be in place before the hire. Report each new hire to Employment Security within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the cocktail bars already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a cocktail bar at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The cocktail bar check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State LLC forms and fees (RSA 304-C:191); Corporation Division annual report FAQs; Secretary of State form TN-1 (RSA 349); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue Administration Meals and Rentals Tax booklet and form CD-3 (RSA 78-A:4); business tax pages (RSA 77-A, RSA 77-E); Office of Planning and Development municipal guidance; town ordinances; RSA 155-A (State Building Code); RSA 674 (local land use planning); town ordinances; DHHS fee schedule for permitting of food service establishments (January 2023); food service license application (RSA 143-A; He-P 2300); He-P 2303.02 (requirements for food protection manager certification); He-P 2300 adoption of the 2017 FDA Food Code; RSA 178:29 (fees); Liquor Commission initial license application (LIQ-A1) and restaurant license type worksheet (LTW-03); rule Liq 703.06 (prorated fees); Employment Security employer claims and taxes pages and tax rate chart; Employment Security business compliance page (new hire reporting); Department of Labor workers’ compensation pages (RSA 281-A); U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
10 items, in order: certificate of formation (llc) and the annual report, trade name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), business tax accounts (business profits tax, business enterprise tax) and the meals and rentals operator’s license, no state business license; local permits and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 4 more.
New Hampshire Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, Your city or town clerk, Your town’s planning board or zoning officer and code enforcement office and New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, and 2 more.
With certificate of formation (llc) and the annual report (New Hampshire Secretary of State, Corporation Division), then trade name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: restaurant license (beverage and wine, or beverage and liquor), or restaurant with cocktail lounge license. The local license usually comes first.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
How to open a cocktail bar in New Hampshire (2026) | DoorWorthy
