If you serve in the military or have served, New Hampshire is one of the friendlier states for your money, with a property tax credit for qualifying veterans and, as of 2025, no state income tax at all. New Hampshire is home to Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth and Newington, where the 157th Air Refueling Wing flies the KC-46 tanker, so it draws military families after a PCS, which is short for Permanent Change of Station, the official military move from one duty station to another. This guide explains the main rules in plain language and points you to the state's own sources. Tax law changes, and New Hampshire towns set many of these amounts locally, so treat these figures as a starting point and confirm the current rules before you file.
How New Hampshire Helps Disabled Veterans With Property Taxes
New Hampshire helps veterans differently from most states. Instead of lowering a home's assessed value, it gives a credit that comes straight off the property tax bill, and towns can vote to make that credit larger. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, known as the VA, is the federal agency that rates service-connected disabilities, and that rating decides which credit you can claim.
As the New Hampshire Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services lists, the state offers a layered set of property tax benefits for veterans under state law.
Who Qualifies and How Much
New Hampshire's veteran property tax help comes in three main forms:
- The standard veterans' tax credit, under RSA 72:28, is a credit of $50 off the tax bill for a qualifying wartime veteran, the spouse, or a surviving spouse. A town may vote to adopt a higher amount, anywhere from $51 up to $750.
- The tax credit for service-connected total disability, under RSA 72:35, is a credit of $700 for a veteran the VA rates with a permanent and total service-connected disability, or who is a double amputee or paraplegic from service. A town may vote to raise this credit up to $4,000.
- A full property tax exemption, under RSA 72:36-a, applies to certain permanently and totally disabled veterans, such as those who are paraplegic, double amputees, or blind from service, whose specially adapted home was acquired or adapted with VA assistance.
Because towns adopt the higher optional amounts, the dollars you receive depend on where you live. Confirm what your town has adopted with the local assessing office.
Surviving Spouses
The benefit can carry to a surviving spouse. A surviving spouse who has not remarried may be able to claim the standard veterans' tax credit, and other survivor provisions exist for the spouses of service members who died on active duty or from a service-connected cause. Because the conditions depend on your situation and your town, confirm them with your local assessing office before you rely on the benefit.
How It Works With Your Local Tax Bill
Property tax in New Hampshire is assessed and collected by your city or town, and you claim every veteran credit through the local assessing office. You file a permanent application, usually Form PA-29, with your discharge papers and your VA disability documentation, generally by April 15. Once granted, most of these credits continue without yearly reapplication unless your situation changes.
Because each town sets its own tax rate and votes on the optional credit amounts, the same service record can save different dollars in different towns. If you are weighing where to settle, our guide to the military bases in New Hampshire can help you picture the local cost of owning a home in each market.
Military Pay and New Hampshire Taxes
Here is the simplest part of this guide: New Hampshire has no state income tax. The state never taxed earned income such as wages or military pay, and it has now removed its last income-type tax. As the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration confirms, the Interest and Dividends Tax was repealed effective January 1, 2025, so for tax periods beginning on or after that date there is no longer a state tax on interest and dividend income either.
That means New Hampshire does not tax your active-duty pay, your military retirement pay, your National Guard or Reserve pay, or your VA disability compensation. There is no state return to file on that income and no military-pay exemption to claim, because there is no state income tax to begin with. You will still owe federal income tax where it applies, and you will pay local property and sales-type taxes, so weigh the whole picture when you compare duty stations. Because tax rules can change, confirm the current details with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration before you make decisions.
A Note for Military Spouses: MSRRA
If you are a military spouse, the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act, known as MSRRA, may matter to you. MSRRA is a federal law that lets a military spouse keep a home state for tax and voting purposes even after moving on military orders. Because New Hampshire has no state income tax, residency here is often simple, but your prior home state's rules may still affect you.
