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jeffk · 02-14-2007, 04:57 PM

New Hampshire has a fairly good exemption on the 5% tax. $2400 for single people and $4800 for joint filers. Interest rates are running less than 5% and dividends run around that as well. That means that a couple would need to have over $100,000 in interest and dividend bearing investments before they STARTED to pay anything on the 5% tax. Most stock investments make the most significant gains through capital gain growth. Any increase in value in your home or other property is also a capital gain. New Hampshire has no tax on capital gains. There is also no estate tax so you can pass your remaining estate on to your heirs without the state taking anything.

As to the "high" rates of New Hampshire property taxes, the overall tax burden of residents is shown year after year to be close to the lowest in the nation. I grant that retiring in NH can be painful because the property tax doesn't stop when the income does but no one seems to complain when they don't have to pay income or sales tax during their earning years. I've lived in the state for 22 years now and am well aware that if I want to retire here that I will have to continue to pay property tax and that my property is almost certain to appreciate. I have built that into my retirement planning and channel some of my income and sales tax "savings" to my retirement accounts so I will be able to afford my property taxes. There is no free lunch but I still think the NH system benefits me in the long run. Other states with higher and various means of taxation are no better off, many even having flirted with bankruptcy in recent years. I think the State of New Hampshire is stingy with the money of its citizens and, in my opinion, that's not a bad thing.

02-14-2007, 04:57 PM	#11
jeffk Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,187 Thanks: 210 Thanked 457 Times in 262 Posts	More info about the "5% tax" and other comments New Hampshire has a fairly good exemption on the 5% tax. $2400 for single people and $4800 for joint filers. Interest rates are running less than 5% and dividends run around that as well. That means that a couple would need to have over $100,000 in interest and dividend bearing investments before they STARTED to pay anything on the 5% tax. Most stock investments make the most significant gains through capital gain growth. Any increase in value in your home or other property is also a capital gain. New Hampshire has no tax on capital gains. There is also no estate tax so you can pass your remaining estate on to your heirs without the state taking anything. As to the "high" rates of New Hampshire property taxes, the overall tax burden of residents is shown year after year to be close to the lowest in the nation. I grant that retiring in NH can be painful because the property tax doesn't stop when the income does but no one seems to complain when they don't have to pay income or sales tax during their earning years. I've lived in the state for 22 years now and am well aware that if I want to retire here that I will have to continue to pay property tax and that my property is almost certain to appreciate. I have built that into my retirement planning and channel some of my income and sales tax "savings" to my retirement accounts so I will be able to afford my property taxes. There is no free lunch but I still think the NH system benefits me in the long run. Other states with higher and various means of taxation are no better off, many even having flirted with bankruptcy in recent years. I think the State of New Hampshire is stingy with the money of its citizens and, in my opinion, that's not a bad thing.