New Hampshire has no general sales tax and no use tax on boats. A $25,000 private sale and a $100,000 dealer purchase both show $0 sales tax. What you pay to put a vessel on public waters (unless RSA 270-E:4 exempts it) is an annual registration by length under RSA 270-E:5: $24 at 16 feet and under, $34 from 16.1 to 21 feet, $52 from 21.1 to 30 feet, $72 from 30.1 to 45 feet, and $92 at 45.1 feet and over, plus $5 if a non-employee authorized agent processes the file, plus boat-fee decal amounts under RSA 270-E:5-a that DMV quotes (call 603-227-4030). Registration expires December 31 each year. An 18-foot pleasure boat’s statutory length fee is $34 before agent and decal add-ons. A 50-foot vessel’s statutory length fee is $92. This page estimates those published RSA dollars. New Hampshire DMV and the Department of Revenue Administration set the receipt — DRA because there is no sales tax to collect; DMV because the numbering fee is theirs.
How much is New Hampshire boat registration?
People search “New Hampshire boat sales tax calculator” because Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont charge percents. New Hampshire does not. The bill is a length class, possible agent $5, and decals. Do not multiply $100,000 by 5% or 6% and call it New Hampshire. Do not paste a town motor-vehicle permit (the car sticker) onto a hull. A $100,000 18-foot boat and a $25,000 18-foot boat are the same $0 tax and the same $34 RSA line before agent and decals. Neighboring-state habit is what makes those two files look like they should differ by thousands.
| Length (RSA 270-E:5) | Statutory registration fee | With $5 agent |
|---|---|---|
| 16 feet and under | $24 | $29 |
| 16.1 to 21 feet | $34 | $39 |
| 21.1 to 30 feet | $52 | $57 |
| 30.1 to 45 feet | $72 | $77 |
| 45.1 feet and over | $92 | $97 |
Those totals still omit RSA 270-E:5-a boat-fee decals. DMV’s boat page tells you to call 603-227-4030 for the current combined quote. This page will not guess a decal dollar.
Example 1: $100,000 purchase vs $25,000 private sale
Scenario: Two New Hampshire buyers. One pays $100,000 at a dealer. The other pays $25,000 privately. Both boats are 18 feet and must be registered.
Price drops out of the tax math because there is no tax. Length picks $34. Decals sit on top of both files.
Example 2: 18-foot vs 50-foot statutory fees
Scenario: Pleasure boats that must be registered. Compare RSA 270-E:5 only, then remember decals.
The jump from $34 to $92 is length, not luxury tax. New Hampshire does not add a percent when the hull costs more.
- NH DMV — Boat Registrations — how to register; RSA 270-E:5 and 72-A:3 pointers
- RSA 270-E:5 — length schedule; agent $5; duplicate $15
The tax rule: none — annual length fees instead
New Hampshire DRA does not levy a general sales or use tax on the boat purchase. Cost at the DMV window is registration plus statutory boat fees and decals plus any agent fee. Registration is required for vessels on public waters unless RSA 270-E:4 exempts that vessel. Read 270-E:4 for the exemption list rather than assuming a kayak or a tender is automatically free — this page will not invent extra exemption dollars or extra exemption categories beyond “check 270-E:4.”
The numbering product expires December 31 every year. Buying in June does not give you a year from the purchase date. You are on the calendar year with everyone else. That is the opposite of a one-time permanent fee in some other states.
Example 3: Calendar-year expiration
Scenario: Buyer registers an 18-foot boat on June 15.
Budget the length fee (and decals) as an annual December 31 product, not as a once-and-done title tax.
Example 4: 16.0 feet vs 16.1 feet
Scenario: Two similar runabouts. Manufacturer length 16.0 feet vs 16.1 feet.
RSA writes 16.1 feet as the start of the second class. A “16-foot boat” in an ad may be either class. Use the length DMV will accept.
- RSA 270-E:5 — fees and December timing via DMV practice (expires Dec 31)
- RSA 270-E:4 — who is exempt from registration (read the statute)
- NH DRA — no general sales/use tax
Dealer vs private (still $0 sales tax)
A New Hampshire dealer does not collect boat sales tax, because there is none. A private seller does not collect it either. Both paths still need ownership proof to register. Trade-in does not create New Hampshire tax savings. Manufacturer certificates for dealers are a different RSA line: $5 initial / $3 additional — those are dealer/manufacturer items, not the pleasure-boat length table.
Example 5: Dealer $100,000, 30-foot boat
Scenario: Dealer sale, 30.0-foot vessel (21.1–30 ft class is $52; 30.1 starts $72). Confirm which side of 30.1 DMV uses. Here the boat is 30.0 feet.
If the hull is 30.1 feet, the statutory fee becomes $72. Measure before you argue $20.
Example 6: Private $25,000, 18-foot boat
Scenario: Bill of sale, 18 feet, New Hampshire resident.
The private path changes the paperwork, not the $0 tax and not the $34 class.
- NH DMV boat registrations — ownership proof
- RSA 270-E:5 — dealer/manufacturer certificates $5 / $3
No local sales tax (and not a car permit)
New Hampshire has no local sales tax on boats. Towns collect motor-vehicle permit fees on cars. That car regime is not boat tax. Do not add a municipal car-permit percent or dollar to the RSA 270-E:5 length fee and call it “town boat tax.”
You may still visit a municipal agent who is authorized to process boat registrations. If that person is a non-employee authorized agent, RSA 270-E:5 II adds $5. That $5 is an agent processing fee, not a local sales tax.
Example 7: Same 18-foot boat, two towns
Scenario: One owner uses a DMV employee window. The other uses a non-employee authorized agent.
The $5 is who stamps the form, not which lake you use.
Example 8: Car permit mixed into a boat quote
Scenario: A clerk adds a town motor-vehicle permit amount onto an 18-foot boat file.
If the number looks like your car’s town permit, it is in the wrong pile.
- NH DRA / DMV — no local boat sales tax
- RSA 270-E:5 II — $5 non-employee authorized agent
RSA length fees, agent $5, and boat-fee decals
RSA 270-E:5 is the length table printed above. RSA 270-E:5-a adds boat-fee decal components (lake preservation, search and rescue, and related statutory pieces). DMV’s boat page says to use the current DMV quote and lists 603-227-4030. This page names those decals as required add-ons and does not invent their dollars. Skipping the phone call is how a $34 length fee gets treated as the whole bill — the stale mistake this page is written to kill.
Duplicate registration: $15 (RSA 270-E:5 V). Title practices: DMV processes vessel registration; confirm with DMV whether your hull needs a title — this pack says not to invent a title tax. If DMV charges a title fee, take their current figure; it is not a sales tax.
| Item | Official dollar |
|---|---|
| Length ≤16 ft | $24 |
| Length 16.1–21 ft | $34 |
| Length 21.1–30 ft | $52 |
| Length 30.1–45 ft | $72 |
| Length ≥45.1 ft | $92 |
| Non-employee authorized agent | +$5 |
| Duplicate registration | $15 |
| Manufacturer certificate initial / additional | $5 / $3 |
| Boat-fee decals (RSA 270-E:5-a) | Ask DMV |
Example 9: Duplicate $15 vs a new annual $34
Scenario: 18-foot owner lost the registration card mid-season vs a new buyer registering the first time this year.
A duplicate is not a second $34 length fee unless DMV is actually issuing a new year’s registration.
Example 10: All five length classes, same $0 tax
Scenario: Five boats, any purchase price, DMV employee window (no $5 agent), decals still pending from DMV.
Crossing 16.1, 21.1, 30.1, and 45.1 feet is where the RSA dollars step. Price never steps the tax line.
- RSA 270-E:5 — schedule, agent, duplicate, manufacturer certificates
- RSA 270-E:5-a / DMV — boat-fee decals; phone 603-227-4030
Gifts, inheritance, out-of-state boats, and documented vessels
Gifts and inheritances have $0 sales tax. You still complete DMV ownership and registration if the vessel must be numbered. Military buyers are in the same $0 sales-tax world; registration rules still apply. An out-of-state buyer who registers in New Hampshire pays no New Hampshire sales tax and does pay New Hampshire registration and decals. There is no New Hampshire percent to wipe for a gift, and no New Hampshire percent to accidentally charge on fair-market value. The RSA length class is the same $34 or $92 whether the hull was purchased, gifted, or inherited.
Coast Guard documented vessels: follow DMV and Marine Patrol rules for how those hulls are numbered in New Hampshire. Sales tax remains $0. Do not skip DMV because of a federal document until those offices say the hull is outside RSA 270-E.
Example 11: Gift of an 18-foot boat
Scenario: Family gift, 18 feet, must be registered.
The gift does not create a sales tax, and it does not erase the $34 class.
Example 12: Out-of-state buyer registers in New Hampshire
Scenario: Massachusetts resident keeps a 25-foot boat on a New Hampshire lake and registers it here as DMV requires. Purchase was $80,000.
New Hampshire’s $0 sales tax is not a refund of another state’s tax. It is simply not charged on the New Hampshire numbering file.
- NH DMV boat registrations — process for residents and documented hulls
- RSA 270-E chapter — registration and decals
How to calculate your New Hampshire boat bill
- Write $0 on the sales-tax line. Do not apply a percent to price.
- Confirm the vessel must be registered (public waters, not RSA 270-E:4 exempt).
- Pick the RSA 270-E:5 length class: $24 / $34 / $52 / $72 / $92.
- Add $5 if a non-employee authorized agent processes the registration.
- Call DMV or use their current quote for RSA 270-E:5-a boat-fee decals. Do not skip this step.
- If you need a duplicate card, that line is $15, not a second length class unless they are issuing a new year.
- Ask DMV about title if your hull is in a title program — do not add a made-up title tax.
Example 13: Walkthrough — 18-foot resident, agent window
Scenario: 18-foot pleasure boat, non-employee authorized agent, any price.
The $39 is not the full DMV total until decals are on the receipt.
Example 14: Walkthrough — 50-foot, DMV employee, duplicate later
Scenario: 50-foot vessel registered at a DMV employee office ($92, no $5). Mid-year the card is lost.
Keep the original receipt. The $15 duplicate line is easy to confuse with a new length fee.
- RSA 270-E:5 — calculation order for length, agent, duplicate
- DMV boat page — decal quote
What this page does not estimate
This page estimates $0 sales tax, the five RSA length fees, the $5 agent fee, the $15 duplicate, and the $5 / $3 manufacturer certificate lines. It does not quote RSA 270-E:5-a boat-fee decal dollars (call DMV). It does not quote a title tax or title fee DMV did not publish in this pack. It does not quote marina fees, dealer document fees, or another state’s sales tax. It does not apply a town car permit to a boat. It does not list every RSA 270-E:4 exemption in full — read that section.
Example 15: Decals are missing from $34 on purpose
Scenario: Buyer wants one “New Hampshire boat tax” number for an 18-foot boat.
Omitting decals is one of the stale mistakes this page is written to kill. The length fee is not the whole window total.
Example 16: Title tax is not invented here
Scenario: Out-of-state dealer says “New Hampshire title tax 5%.”
If someone wants 5% of price, they are describing another state.
Two complete buying examples
Example 17: Resident 18-foot dealer buy
Scenario: New Hampshire resident. Dealer. 18-foot pleasure boat. $40,000. Non-employee authorized agent. Must be registered. Not RSA 270-E:4 exempt.
Bring ownership proof. Call DMV for the decal total before you treat $39 as the full bill.
Example 18: Gift 50-foot boat plus a duplicate later
Scenario: Inheritance/gift of a 50-foot vessel. DMV employee window (no $5). Later a duplicate card.
The $92 class does not become a percent of the yacht’s value. New Hampshire does not tax the gift that way.
Common questions
Does New Hampshire tax boat sales?
No general sales or use tax. You pay RSA length fees, possible $5 agent, and boat-fee decals.
When does registration expire?
December 31 each year.
Is the $24–$92 table the whole bill?
No. Add agent $5 when it applies and the RSA 270-E:5-a decals DMV quotes.
Do I register a vessel RSA 270-E:4 exempts?
No — if it fits 270-E:4. Read that section; this page does not invent extra exempt types.
What if I lose the registration?
Duplicate is $15 under RSA 270-E:5 V.
Example 19: Percent-tax myth on $100,000
Scenario: Quote uses 5% because neighboring states tax boats.
Ask for RSA 270-E:5, not a percent.
Example 20: Skipping decals on an 18-foot boat
Scenario: Buyer budgets only $34.
Call 603-227-4030 so the decal line is a real DMV number, not a guess.
Before you sign
Write length to the tenth of a foot the way RSA classes it (16.1, 21.1, 30.1, 45.1). Expect $0 sales tax. Expect $24, $34, $52, $72, or $92 plus possible $5 agent plus DMV decals. Plan on December 31 expiration, not a rolling 12 months. Do not let a town car permit onto the boat file. If the hull might be documented, ask DMV and Marine Patrol how New Hampshire numbers it. If anyone wants a percent of the purchase price as New Hampshire boat tax, that person is describing another state.
A $100,000 boat and a $25,000 boat of the same length pay the same New Hampshire sales tax — $0 — and the same RSA length class. The expensive part of a New Hampshire quote is usually someone adding a fake percent, not the $34 or $92 line.
Example 21: Checklist — 18-foot purchase
Scenario: Resident, any price, agent window.
Known here: $39 plus decals. Tax: $0.
Example 22: Checklist — 50-foot gift
Scenario: Family transfer, 50 feet, DMV employee.
Do not pay a percent of the yacht’s appraised value as New Hampshire sales tax.
Complete reference list
- New Hampshire DMV — Boat Registrations — how to register; RSA 270-E:5 and 72-A:3
- RSA 270-E:5 — registration fee schedule; agent $5; duplicate $15; manufacturer certificates
- RSA 270-E chapter — boat-fee decal 270-E:5-a; exemptions 270-E:4
This page estimates New Hampshire boat costs as $0 sales tax plus the RSA 270-E:5 length fees, $5 agent fee when it applies, and $15 duplicate. New Hampshire DMV sets registration and the boat-fee decal quote. The Department of Revenue Administration does not collect a general sales tax on these purchases. Call DMV for current decal amounts and any title filing that applies to your hull.