Tax Attorney in New Hampshire

No. With the Interest and Dividends Tax repealed effective January 1, 2025, New Hampshire has no broad-based personal income tax of any kind — no tax on wages, no tax on investment income, no tax on retirement distributions. NH joins Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming as a state with no state-level personal income tax. NH does impose Business Profits Tax under RSA 77-A at 7.5% on business profits above the $92,000 gross business income threshold, Business Enterprise Tax under RSA 77-E at 0.55% on the enterprise value tax base, Meals and Rooms Tax at 8.5% on prepared food, lodging, and motor-vehicle rentals, Real Estate Transfer Tax at $0.75 per $100 of consideration paid by each side, and selected excise taxes. Federal income tax on Form 1040 with the IRS applies in full to NH residents.

The U.S. Tax Court does not maintain a permanent place of trial in New Hampshire. NH petitioners typically designate Boston as the place of trial under Tax Court Rule 140 — the Boston courtroom is at the John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse, 5 Post Office Square, Room 5. The drive from Manchester to Boston is roughly one hour, Nashua about 45 minutes, Concord about 80 minutes, and Portsmouth about an hour. Petitioners in the Upper Valley or North Country may instead designate Burlington, Vermont, or Portland, Maine, both of which host small-tax-case sessions without a permanent courtroom. Small-tax-case procedure under IRC §7463 applies to deficiencies of $50,000 or less per year.

The Interest and Dividends Tax under former RSA Chapter 77 was a 5% New Hampshire state tax on interest and dividend income received by residents above the household exemption ($2,400 for individuals, $4,800 for joint filers, with additional exemptions for taxpayers age 65 and over, blind taxpayers, and disabled taxpayers under age 65). The tax was phased down in steps (4% for tax year 2023, 3% for tax year 2024) and fully repealed for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. New Hampshire now has no broad-based state tax on individual income. Retirees, investors, and trust beneficiaries who previously filed Form DP-10 no longer have a state filing obligation on investment income.

Massachusetts taxes the wages you earn for services physically performed in Massachusetts under the source-income rule. A NH resident commuting to Boston, Cambridge, or anywhere along the Route 128 / I-93 / I-95 corridor pays MA state income tax (5% on most wage income, plus the 4% surtax on income above $1 million under the so-called Massachusetts Millionaire Tax) on the MA-source wages. Because NH has no broad personal income tax, there is no reciprocal home-state credit to reduce the MA bill. The Massachusetts DOR also audits residency aggressively for filers who claim a clean move north of the border but retain MA employer contacts, voter registration, vehicle registration, or family ties. Documenting a real change of domicile to NH — physical move, NH driver's license, NH voter registration, severed MA professional and business ties — matters when MA challenges the move.

Yes, but the two agencies audit different taxes. The IRS examines federal income tax, federal employment tax, and federal excise tax. The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration examines Business Profits Tax (RSA 77-A), Business Enterprise Tax (RSA 77-E), Meals and Rooms Tax (RSA 78-A), Real Estate Transfer Tax (RSA 78-B), and other state-administered taxes. A NH business can simultaneously face an IRS payroll audit on Form 941 issues and a DRA BET audit on the same payroll figures, because BET uses payroll compensation as one component of the enterprise value tax base. The two agencies share information under information-exchange agreements, and a federal adjustment to taxable income often produces a parallel BPT amendment.

New Hampshire does not run a formal Offer in Compromise program in the way the federal IRS does under IRC §7122. The Department of Revenue Administration may negotiate settlements of disputed BPT, BET, and Meals and Rooms balances, accept payment plans, and issue penalty waivers where reasonable cause is shown. With no state personal income tax, there is no individual state-level OIC analysis to worry about for most NH residents. For the federal side, the IRS OIC remains the standard mechanism for resolving a tax balance for less than the full amount when collectibility or liability is genuinely in doubt.

Your CSED is calculated from the date of assessment, which appears on your IRS Account Transcript as Transaction Code 150 (return filed) or Transaction Code 290 (additional assessment). Add ten years, then add the days for any tolling events: pending OICs, CDP hearings, bankruptcy stays, continuous absence from the United States for six months or more, and similar. The IRS records the CSED date internally on its CC ACTRA transcript; we pull this for clients as part of every engagement. The practical impact is significant — a debt assessed in 2016 may be approaching expiration in 2026, and aggressive enforcement near the CSED is common.

Probably yes for the federal trust-fund portion. IRC §6672 assesses a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against any "responsible person" who "willfully" failed to pay over withheld taxes — the FICA and federal income-tax withholding portion of Form 941, not the employer's share. The IRS conducts a Form 4180 interview to identify responsible persons. Anyone with check-signing authority, payroll-decision authority, or knowledge of the unpaid taxes can be assessed. On the NH state side, a closed business typically still owes outstanding BPT under RSA 77-A and BET under RSA 77-E for the operating quarters, plus any Meals and Rooms Tax balance under RSA 78-A if the business was a restaurant or lodging operator. Responsible-person concepts apply to those state taxes as well.

The BPT starts from federal taxable income with NH-specific adjustments. When the IRS audits the federal return and adjusts taxable income, the BPT computation for the same year shifts in parallel. Under RSA 21-J, a taxpayer that has its federal taxable income adjusted by the IRS must report the change to the Department of Revenue Administration within a defined window (typically 180 days for individuals and six months for business entities, but verify the current parameter). Failure to file an amended BPT return after a federal adjustment can produce a separate state-level deficiency assessment with interest and penalties. We coordinate the federal resolution with the parallel BPT amendment so the state filing matches the final federal posture.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — currently $62,000 for 2026, indexed annually for inflation — to the State Department, which may then deny passport renewal or revoke an active passport. The certification reverses when the debt is paid in full, an Installment Agreement is in place, an accepted OIC is in force, an active CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. For NH Portsmouth-area defense contractors, Lebanon-area Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical staff traveling internationally, biotech executives, and seasonal ski-industry professionals booked abroad, decertification is often urgent and can be processed in 30 days or less once the qualifying resolution is documented.

Federal tax-resolution fees vary by matter complexity. A straightforward Installment Agreement typically falls between $1,500 and $3,500. A full Offer in Compromise with Form 433 financial analysis runs $4,000 to $7,500. Audit defense depends on the audit type and the number of issues. A U.S. Tax Court petition with case workup and trial preparation generally starts at $6,000 and rises with complexity. VTL provides a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 prohibits comparisons claiming we are cheaper or faster than competitors without verifiable substantiation, so we do not market on price.

Yes. Communications between you and a licensed attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice are protected by federal common-law attorney-client privilege, subject to the usual exceptions (crime-fraud, waiver, and so on). The narrower federally-authorized tax practitioner privilege under IRC §7525 applies to non-attorney CPAs and EAs but does not extend to criminal-tax matters. An attorney handling your tax case retains the broader privilege that survives criminal investigation.

A Tax Court trial is a bench trial — no jury — before a Judge or Special Trial Judge of the U.S. Tax Court. The session opens with calendar call where the Court hears scheduling issues. Most cases on the calendar settle before trial; the IRS Office of Chief Counsel attorney for the case meets with petitioner's counsel during the days before trial. If trial proceeds, the petitioner bears the burden of proof on most issues, presents evidence and witness testimony, and the Court issues a written opinion typically within several months of trial. For NH petitioners, the Boston session at 5 Post Office Square is the standard venue; small-tax-case procedure under IRC §7463 applies to deficiencies of $50,000 or less per year and uses a simplified evidentiary standard.

Yes, generally. IRC §6331(k)(1) suspends levy action while an offer is pending and for 30 days after a rejection, and during any timely-filed Appeals review of a rejection. The IRS will not levy on you while a processable OIC is being evaluated. However, the IRS may still file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien during the OIC pendency to protect its position. CSED is also tolled during the pendency. A poorly-prepared OIC that gets returned (not rejected) does not provide the same protection — processability matters.

For an administrative hearing at the Department of Revenue Administration Hearings Bureau and for an appeal to the New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals under RSA 71-B, a taxpayer may represent themselves or appear through an authorized representative under BTLA rules. For judicial review proceeding in NH Superior Court or the NH Supreme Court, an attorney admitted in New Hampshire is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping matters and coordinates with NH counsel where state-court litigation is necessary. Many DRA disputes resolve at the Hearings Bureau or BTLA stage without reaching state court.

No. New Hampshire repealed its Legacies and Successions Tax in 2003 and has no state estate tax today. The federal estate tax under IRC §2001 still applies to estates above the federal applicable exclusion amount (currently $13.61 million per individual for decedents dying in 2024, indexed for inflation), with a 40% top rate. Estates above the threshold file Form 706 with the IRS. NH-resident decedents do not file a parallel state estate-tax return, though out-of-state real property owned by a NH decedent may trigger a state estate-tax filing in the state where that property sits (Massachusetts and Vermont, for example, both maintain state estate taxes with their own thresholds).