How to Start an LLC in New Hampshire

Start with the document name, because New Hampshire does this differently than most guides assume. The state creates LLCs with a Certificate of Formation, not Articles of Organization. The form is Form LLC-1, filed with the New Hampshire Department of State's Corporation Division under RSA 304-C:31, and the statutory filing fee is $100 (RSA 304-C:191). File it online through the NH QuickStart system and the state adds a $2 electronic handling charge under RSA 5:10-a, bringing the online total to $102. The filing fee itself stays $100; the $2 is a payment handling charge that attaches to any fee paid electronically.

With the vocabulary settled, the process itself is six moves.

New Hampshire LLC Formation Steps

1. Clear your name with the Corporation Division. New Hampshire wants an LLC designator in the name and distinguishability from everything already on record. Search the database through QuickStart before committing.
2. Line up a registered agent. RSA 304-C:36 defines who qualifies: a New Hampshire resident individual whose residential or business office is identical with the registered office, or a corporation, LLC, PLLC, or LLP organized or authorized under the RSA chapters the statute lists, with a business office identical with the registered office. The address must be a physical New Hampshire street address. The Form LLC-1 instructions are blunt about it: list an out-of-state address and the application will not be processed.
3. File the Certificate of Formation, Form LLC-1. Online through QuickStart for $100 plus the $2 handling charge, or on paper for the flat statutory $100. The certificate names the LLC, its registered agent and registered office, and the nature of its business.
4. Put an operating agreement in writing. New Hampshire never asks for it, but banks do, and so will a court if the members ever end up across a table from each other. It is the one formation document you write for yourself rather than the state.
5. Take an EIN from the IRS. Free, direct from IRS.gov, usually issued in minutes. Decline anyone who offers to sell you one.
6. Learn the annual report rhythm early. Every LLC files between January 1 and April 1 each year, with information current as of January 1 and a $100 fee. Your first report is due the year following formation, and an LLC formed between December 1 and April 1 is not required to file that first year. After April 1 a $50 late fee applies.

The Numbers at Formation

• Certificate of Formation (Form LLC-1): $100, plus $2 if paid online
• Annual report, every year after the first: $100
• Our formation service: $199, which covers preparing and filing Form LLC-1 and includes your first year of registered agent service, then $99/year

If the company is already formed and only the agent seat needs filling, standalone registered agent service is $99/year.

After the Certificate Is Filed

Two things keep a New Hampshire LLC in good standing: a registered agent continuously on file under RSA 304-C:36, and the annual report window met each year. Miss reports for two consecutive years and the Corporation Division can administratively dissolve the company. New Hampshire also runs a Business Profits Tax and a Business Enterprise Tax that can apply to an LLC once its numbers cross the state's thresholds, so check your position with the Department of Revenue Administration as revenue grows.

You can file Form LLC-1 yourself through QuickStart, or hand us the paperwork and keep your week.

Form Your New Hampshire LLC