Business licenses and permits in New Hampshire

What applies everywhere in New Hampshire

14 requirements are set by New Hampshire itself and apply whichever city you open in. Local permits sit on top of them.

Sources

Every statewide figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

1. New Hampshire Secretary of State — business FAQ, the annual report deadline and penaltiesNew Hampshire Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
2. New Hampshire Secretary of State — corporation articles of incorporation feeNew Hampshire Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
3. New Hampshire Secretary of State — LLC certificate of formation feeNew Hampshire Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
4. New Hampshire Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics — shop license feesNew Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
5. New Hampshire DRA — Business Profits Tax FAQ, the $109,000 filing thresholdNew Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
6. New Hampshire DRA — Business Enterprise Tax FAQ, the $298,000 filing thresholdNew Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
7. New Hampshire DHHS — certified food protection manager FAQNew Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
8. He-C 4002 — child care programme licensing rule, adopted 26 August 2025New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
9. New Hampshire Electricians' Board — journeyman and master electrician feesNew Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
10. New Hampshire DHHS — food service establishment fee scheduleNew Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
11. New Hampshire DHHS — applying for a food license, self-inspecting communities and the provisional-to-final license processNew Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
12. New Hampshire DRA — general FAQ, confirming no sales tax and no requirement to register a new businessNew Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
13. New Hampshire Mechanical Safety and Licensing Board — plumber and mechanical trade feesNew Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
14. New Hampshire DMV form RDMV 720 — repairer registration, and the boundary with dealer licensingNew Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
15. New Hampshire DMV — vehicle inspection station licensing, $25 a yearNew Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
16. New Hampshire Board of Veterinary Medicine — who the board regulates, listing only the individual veterinarianNew Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04

Which New Hampshire city are you opening in?

• Manchester, NHManchester runs a genuine City Clerk Business License, but it reaches only a fixed, enumerated list of activities (Food Service Establishment, High Impact Retail Sales — tobacco/vapor/lottery retail only, Hotel/Motel, Tattoo/Body Piercing, Peddlers, Taxicab, Towing, Junk Dealers, Secondhand Dealers, Amusement Devices/Arcades, and a few others), priced by a real square-footage formula ($50.00 for the first 1,500 sq ft, plus $2.00 per 100 sq ft thereafter, $50.00-$1,000.00), confirmed in Code of Ordinances §§ 110.01-110.02 and § 110.20. A food truck instead pays the same application's own flat/daily Peddler fee ($150/yr or $25/day city-wide; $400/yr or $75/day in the Civic Center Zone). The real food-permitting authority is Manchester's own self-inspecting Health Department (recorded at the New Hampshire state layer and named on the Department's own fee schedule), which prices a banded Food Service Establishment Permit ($110-$1,000 by class and seating, including a $200.00 Class III-A line that also names child day-care facilities — the genuine local childcare fee), a newer two-tier Mobile Food Unit permit ($220-$365/year, superseding an older reference on the general form), and a $25.00/day Temporary Food Establishment Permit. Planning & Community Development prices a valuation-based building permit (1% of cost for commercial/multi-family, 0.6% for 1-2 family dwellings, plus a $25.00 application fee and $0.02/sq ft plan review for commercial) that also covers Certificate of Occupancy issuance under the same formula, an itemized Zoning Board of Adjustment fee table ($35.00-$350.00 by application type) and Planning Board fees (Site Plan $250.00 + $100.00/unit or /1,000 sq ft; Conditional Use Permit $150.00). A Sign Permit is priced on its own dedicated application form: a $25.00 non-refundable application fee plus $50.00 per sign up to 50 sq ft of face area (or $1.50/sq ft above that), with a separate $35.00 flat fee for a temporary outdoor sign. The Fire Department prices alarm/sprinkler plan review and inspection fees and a $100.00 Place of Assembly Permit. No additional local license exists for auto repair, veterinary practices, fitness studios, salons, or contractors beyond this general layer.20 published records
• Nashua, NHThe City Clerk's Licenses & Permits page lists a narrow, enumerated set of licenses (Amusement Devices, Chauffeurs, Pawnbrokers & Secondhand Dealers, Shows, Taxicabs, Vendors) and names no general business license; unlike Manchester's list, it does not reach food service at all: a Nashua restaurant needs only the Division of Public Health's Environmental Health Department Food Service Establishment License (NRO Ch. 170), banded $25-$1,500 by category and seating (D-1, covering restaurants under 25 seats and also child-care facilities, is $200), the City's own self-inspecting authority under NRO Chapter 170 and the Department's current fee schedule. A food truck stacks three genuinely separate Nashua fees: the Environmental Health Department's $125.00 one-time plan review plus $200.00 annual Mobile Food Service License, the City Clerk's Vendor's (Hawker/Peddler) License ($10/day, $25/week, or $100/year, expiring every December 31 under NRO § 231-11), and Nashua Fire Rescue's own $30.00 annual Food Truck/Trailer Inspection fee. Childcare carries the same $200.00 Environmental Health food fee plus a separate, itemized Fire Marshal childcare inspection fee ($50.00-$150.00 by facility size, every two years) that Manchester's own fire schedule did not price. The Department of Building Safety prices a valuation-based building permit (Ordinance O-21-045: $0.28/sq ft new commercial, $0.18/sq ft commercial alterations, plus a $50.00 application fee) together with a genuinely distinct flat $50.00 Certificate of Occupancy fee (existing space/owner change) rather than folding occupancy into the building-permit formula as Manchester does, a Planning-and-Zoning review fee riding alongside every permit ($25.00-$300.00 or 25% of the building permit fee, by project type), and an itemized sign permit fee ($25.00 filing plus $55.00-$200.00 by sign area) published in the Planning Department's sign permit procedures. The Zoning Board of Adjustment prices variances and special exceptions at $330.00-$900.00 by type, plus abutter-notification and sign fees. Nashua Fire Rescue's own comprehensive Fee Schedule (Ordinance O-22-023) prices banded life-safety plan review, sprinkler and alarm system permits, and a flat $50.00 Place of Assembly Permit. The City Clerk's list names no additional local license for ordinary retail, auto repair, veterinary practices, fitness studios, salons, or contractors beyond this general layer.16 published records
• Concord, NHThe City Clerk's page lists elections, vital records (including marriage licenses), dog licensing and landlord-agent registration and names no business or trade license; the licenses the City issues to businesses, including the Food Service Establishment License, sit with the Code Administration Division's Health & Licensing Services, whose Licensing Services page lists the City's licensable activities and names no general business license. Concord is a self-inspecting New Hampshire municipality for food establishments: Health & Licensing Services, rather than NH DHHS, licenses them under Chapter 13 of the City Code, pricing its own banded Food Service Establishment classes ($74.00-$534.00/year; Class IV, $165.00, also names 'group daycare facilities'), with the class fees the same in the Division's 2021 fee schedule and the City's FY27 fee ordinance workbook (effective July 1, 2026). A food truck pays a single combined 'Food/Peddlers Combo License' ($50.00/day or $350.00/year) that satisfies both the food-service and peddler-license requirements at once, rather than stacking separate fees. The Code Administration Division prices a uniform building-permit formula that does not split residential from commercial ($30.00 application fee plus $7.60 per $1,000 of estimated cost, codified at § 26-1-6 and implemented July 1, 2020), a separate flat $50.00 Change of Occupancy fee, and an itemized sign-permit fee ($30.00 application plus $2.25/sq ft, plus further fees for Planning Board or right-of-way approval). The Zoning Board of Adjustment prices variance/appeal applications at $370.00-$460.00 by zoning district under one consolidated citywide fee article (Title I, § 1-5-1) rather than the scattered chapter-by-chapter fees Manchester and Nashua use; the Planning Board separately prices site plan review, subdivision, and conditional use permits under its own 2013 Subdivision Regulations fee appendix. The Fire Department prices an annual (not one-time) $115.00 Place of Assembly inspection fee, banded fire-suppression and alarm system fees, and a separate, banded day-care fire-inspection fee ($50.00-$80.00 by facility size) alongside the Class IV food-service childcare fee above. The Licensing Services page lists no City license specific to ordinary retail, auto repair, veterinary practices, fitness studios, contractors or salons (other than tattoo artists and tattoo establishments) beyond this general layer.14 published records

Is there a single New Hampshire business license?

Who issues permits in New Hampshire?

• New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and CertificationBarbering, cosmetology and esthetics · Electrical licensing · Mechanical safety and licensing · Veterinary medicine4 permits
• New Hampshire Secretary of State, Corporation DivisionEntity formation · Annual reports3 permits
• New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection SectionFood establishment licensing outside self-inspecting municipalities2 permits
• New Hampshire Department of Revenue AdministrationBusiness Profits Tax · Business Enterprise Tax2 permits
• New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Motor VehiclesVehicle inspection station licensing · Repairer registration2 permits
• New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Licensing UnitChild care programme licensing1 permit

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