Closing Costs in New Hampshire 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide
New Hampshire taxes a sale twice. The buyer and the seller each pay $0.75 per $100 of the price in transfer tax (RSA 78-B:1 and 78-B:4), so a $400,000 house carries $6,000 in stamps. The buyer also pays a separate $25 LCHIP charge to record the deed.
Two sets of stamps on one New Hampshire deed
RSA 78-B:1 sets the rate at “$.75 per $100, or fractional part thereof, of the price or consideration.” Section 78-B:4 then charges each side separately. Paragraph I says the purchaser “shall buy and attach the indicia of tax paid,” and paragraph II says the same of the seller. Paragraph III reads: “The rate of tax established in RSA 78-B:1 shall apply to both the purchaser, grantee, assignee or transferee and the seller, grantor, assignor or transferor.” The Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) agrees: “The tax is imposed on both the buyer and the seller at the rate of $.75 per $100.”
- A leftover amount under $100 counts as a full $100, and each side’s tax is “computed to the nearest whole dollar” (78-B:4, I and II).
- At a price of $4,000 or less there is “a minimum tax of $20,” which DRA reads as “$20 from the buyer and $20 from the seller.”
| Price | $100 units | Buyer’s stamps | Seller’s stamps | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | 4,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 |
| $425,050 | 4,251 | $3,188 | $3,188 | $6,376 |
This is a state tax administered by DRA (78-B:8). Both parties buy the stamps from the register of deeds in the county where the property lies, and the register fixes them to the deed before recording (78-B:5, 78-B:6). The source note to RSA 78-B:1, the section that sets the rate, lists its last amendment as Laws 1999, chapter 17, effective July 1, 1999. If your purchase and sales agreement has a transfer-tax clause, read it before you sign.
Deeds RSA 78-B:2 leaves unstamped
- A mortgage “or other instrument given to secure payment of a debt,” and its discharge (III, IV). Your purchase loan carries no stamps.
- Noncontractual transfers, which DRA describes as “essentially a gift” (IX).
- Inheritance and the death of a joint tenant, “regardless of any consideration paid or obligation assumed” (XI).
- A transfer between spouses “pursuant to a final decree of divorce or nullity” (XIII).
- A transfer on death deed under RSA 563-D, “where no consideration is exchanged” (XXV).
A deed claiming an exemption must state its basis (Rev 803.03).
Page fees set in RSA 478 and the $25 LCHIP charge
RSA 478:17-g fixes what the register of deeds in each county charges. Recording a deed or mortgage costs “$10 for the first recorded page plus $4 for each additional recorded page.” Discharging a mortgage costs $15 for the first page plus $4 for each page after that.
A further $25 for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) is assessed “for recording each deed, mortgage, mortgage discharge or plan.” The statute names who pays: “the grantee in a deed, the grantor in a mortgage, the person or entity discharging a mortgage.” A buyer who borrows pays it twice, as grantee of the deed and as grantor of the mortgage. It is not assessed on documents to which the United States, the state, a state agency, a county, a municipality, a village district or a school district is a party.
A county may also add an equipment surcharge of up to $2 per document if its commissioners and county convention both approve it (RSA 478:17-j). The surcharge is suspended while the equipment account holds more than $500,000. Merrimack County’s registry writes: “Typically there is a $2 surcharge thot [sic] goes directly into the Registry’s equipment account.”
Example: a 4-page deed is $10 + 3 × $4 = $22, plus $25 LCHIP, for $47. In a county charging the $2 surcharge, it comes to $49.
Title premiums are filed with the insurance commissioner
Each title insurer must “file with the commissioner its schedule of fees or premium rates” (RSA 416-A:17, II). Those rates are regulated under RSA 412, where “A competitive market is presumed to exist” unless the commissioner rules otherwise after a hearing (412:13). In a competitive market, “A rate … shall not be disapproved for being excessive” (412:15, I(a)). Ask more than one company for its filed rate.
No policy may be written until the insurer has had “a reasonable examination of the title” made (RSA 416-A:6). That examination can come from an “approved attorney,” meaning a lawyer who is not an employee of a title insurer or title agent (416-A:2, VIII). A lawyer in good standing admitted to practice before the New Hampshire Supreme Court needs no title agent license for that examination and report (416-A:15).
NH Housing’s closing-cost help is a 0% second mortgage
New Hampshire Housing’s mortgage programs page, read September 24, 2026, offers “downpayment assistance up to $15,000” that “can be used towards your downpayment and closing costs.” This money is a loan. It is “secured by a second mortgage, with zero % interest and APR, no periodic payments and a 30-year term.” The full amount comes due if you sell, refinance, file for bankruptcy, stop living in the home as your primary residence, or reach 30 years. You must complete NH Housing’s homebuyer education to use it.
Income limits depend on the first mortgage. Flex Plus serves “Incomes up to $184,500.” Preferred Plus serves incomes up to 80% of area median income as determined by Fannie Mae, and a Preferred Plus Over 80% AMI track goes up to $184,500.
Two declarations due at DRA within 30 days of recording
Buyer and seller each file a declaration of consideration with DRA “no later than 30 days from the recording of the deed at the registry of deeds or transfer of real estate, whichever is later” (RSA 78-B:10, I and IV). DRA names the forms CD-57-P (purchaser) and CD-57-S (seller), plus an Inventory of Property Transfer, Form PA-34. Transfers exempt under 78-B:2 need no declaration, except noncontractual transfers (78-B:10, III). Missing a declaration “shall not be construed to cloud title.”
More: closing costs by state, the New Hampshire state guide, the New Hampshire homeowner insurance guide, the down payment calculator and the mortgage calculator. Nearby states: Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts.
New Hampshire closing questions
What is the transfer tax on a $400,000 house in New Hampshire?
$6,000 in total: $3,000 in stamps from the buyer and $3,000 from the seller. That is 4,000 units of $100 at $0.75 each, charged to each side.
Does refinancing my New Hampshire home trigger the transfer tax?
No. RSA 78-B:2, III exempts “a mortgage or other instrument given to secure payment of a debt.” The new mortgage still pays the registry page fees and the $25 LCHIP charge.
Why does my settlement statement show two $25 LCHIP charges?
RSA 478:17-g, II(a) charges $25 on each deed and each mortgage. It puts the deed charge on the grantee and the mortgage charge on the grantor of the mortgage, and a buyer with a loan is both.
Does a no-money deed from a parent need stamps?
Not if it is a gift. A noncontractual transfer is exempt (78-B:2, IX) if it has all three elements in 78-B:1-a, III: “Donative intent,” “Actual delivery,” and “Immediate relinquishment of control.”