7 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 1 more.
How to open a business in New Hampshire
7 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
What licenses do you need to open a business in New Hampshire? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in New Hampshire takes. A license specific to your kind of business comes from the agency that regulates it; if one of the twenty named businesses is close to yours, its page lists those too.
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Certificate of formation (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 7 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Log in to save it to your account and pick it up anywhere.
Set 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
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sos.nh.gov
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Before the first hireOpens after step 3
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the businesses already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a business at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The business 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; 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). Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.