Delaware LLC vs New Hampshire LLC: Compare (2026)

What is the real cost difference between a Delaware LLC and a New Hampshire LLC?

The headline numbers are close at the entity level, and the New Hampshire figures are approximate — verify current New Hampshire fees with the state before budgeting. Delaware charges roughly $110 to file your Certificate of Formation and then a flat $300 franchise tax each year, due June 1, with no annual report. New Hampshire charges roughly $100 to file your Certificate of Formation and then a recurring annual report fee of about $100 each year, plus the ongoing duty to keep a registered agent and address current.

The difference is less about the headline filing fee and more about what comes after. Delaware’s recurring duty is a single flat payment. New Hampshire layers an annual report on top of two potential business taxes — the Business Profits Tax (BPT) on net income above a threshold and the Business Enterprise Tax (BET) on a base of wages, interest, and dividends. New Hampshire’s real draw is the absence of a general income or sales tax, but an active business there can still face entity-level tax. If you are weighing the full picture, our Delaware LLC cost breakdown lays out every line item for year one and year two.

How do Delaware and New Hampshire LLCs compare side by side?

Read across the table and the pattern is clear: Delaware is the lower-paperwork, higher-privacy, stronger-court option in the abstract, with a flat cost and a series LLC option. New Hampshire’s edge is no general income or sales tax — but for anyone physically based there, the in-state report and business taxes still apply, which is covered next. The New Hampshire figures above are approximate; verify current New Hampshire fees before relying on them.

When does a New Hampshire LLC actually make more sense?

If you are a New Hampshire resident, operate physically in New Hampshire, serve mostly local customers, and have no plans to raise venture capital, a single domestic New Hampshire LLC is usually the cleaner choice. You are already subject to the New Hampshire annual report and to the BPT and BET on that in-state activity, so a second Delaware filing simply stacks a $300 franchise tax and a ~$99 registered-agent renewal on top without removing anything. A resident operating in New Hampshire must register there regardless, so adding Delaware rarely changes the New Hampshire bill.

New Hampshire also carries a genuine advantage worth weighing: no general personal income tax on wages and no statewide sales tax. For a local service business whose owner takes a salary and sells to in-state customers, that can matter more than the entity-level differences with Delaware. The honest test is not where you want to save money — it is where the work actually happens. If the answer is New Hampshire, plan for the annual report and the business taxes; a single New Hampshire LLC keeps you to one report and one registered agent.

Does forming in Delaware help if you live in New Hampshire?

This is the question that trips up most founders, so be precise about it. New Hampshire generally treats an LLC that transacts business in the state as subject to registration and to its business taxes on New Hampshire-source activity. Running your Delaware LLC from a home office in Manchester or Nashua almost always counts as transacting business there. A resident operating in New Hampshire must register there regardless of where the LLC was formed.

When that happens, your Delaware LLC must register as a foreign LLC in New Hampshire, file the New Hampshire annual report, and remain subject to the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax on its New Hampshire activity. You now pay Delaware’s $300 and New Hampshire’s report and any business tax, plus two registered-agent relationships. Forming in Delaware did not remove the New Hampshire obligation — it added a second one. This is the “Delaware mirage” that costs genuine New Hampshire operators money. Always confirm your specific situation with a New Hampshire tax professional before relying on any structure. If you do need to register, our foreign qualification guide explains how a Delaware entity registers to operate in another state.

What is the foreign-qualification double-fee trap?

The most expensive mistake in this comparison is forming a Delaware LLC, running an ordinary business from a New Hampshire desk, and assuming the Delaware filing replaces the New Hampshire one. It does not. When a Delaware LLC transacts business in New Hampshire, it must foreign-qualify there, which means paying to register the out-of-state entity and then maintaining two sets of obligations at once.

In practice the double-fee trap looks like this: you pay Delaware’s flat $300 franchise tax and New Hampshire’s ~$100 annual report; you keep a Delaware registered agent and a separate New Hampshire registered agent; and you remain subject to the BPT and BET on your New Hampshire activity exactly as a domestic New Hampshire LLC would. The out-of-state structure adds cost without removing the in-state tax. For a genuine New Hampshire operator, two states almost always cost more than one. The New Hampshire fees here are approximate — verify current New Hampshire fees — but the structural point holds regardless of the exact numbers.

How do the tax differences actually compare?

The tax story is the most nuanced part of this comparison, so be careful with it. New Hampshire has no general personal income tax on wages and no statewide sales tax, which genuinely benefits residents and shoppers. At the business level, though, it applies the Business Profits Tax on net business income above a filing threshold and the Business Enterprise Tax on a base of compensation, interest, and dividends, with BET paid creditable against BPT. An active New Hampshire LLC can therefore owe state business tax even in a state famous for low taxes.

The bracket and threshold details for the BPT and BET change periodically, so confirm current figures with a New Hampshire tax professional rather than relying on a rule of thumb. The structural point is steady: Delaware’s entity cost is a flat $300 with no income-based add-on, while New Hampshire’s entity cost can scale with profits and enterprise value once thresholds are crossed. Neither state has a sales tax, and remember that your personal income tax depends on where you live, not on the state of formation. For founders who genuinely have no US presence, our Delaware LLC for non-residents guide explains why state nexus is usually not a concern at all.

What does a worked two-year cost comparison look like?

Numbers make the difference concrete. Assume a small online business below the New Hampshire business-tax thresholds, so no BPT or BET applies yet. Three setups are realistic: a clean Delaware LLC with no New Hampshire nexus, a single domestic New Hampshire LLC, and the trap case — a Delaware LLC operated from New Hampshire, which must foreign-qualify and maintain both states.

The takeaway is more balanced here than in higher-fee states. A pure domestic New Hampshire LLC is cheap to run at the entity level when no business tax applies, because the state’s recurring cost is mainly the ~$100 report. Delaware’s flat structure is competitive and adds privacy, the Court of Chancery, and series LLCs, but it is not automatically the cheapest on paper for a tiny local business. The worst outcome is again the trap case: a Delaware LLC run from New Hampshire pays both states and lands highest. The honest conclusion is that forming out-of-state rarely saves a genuine New Hampshire operator money. These figures are illustrative, exclude the BPT and BET, and use approximate New Hampshire fees — confirm exact amounts with a tax professional.

When does a Delaware LLC win?

Delaware is the stronger choice in several common scenarios:

• Non-US founders. You can form a Delaware LLC with no SSN, US address, or visa, and you have no New Hampshire nexus to trigger its report or business taxes. See our guide for forming a Delaware LLC.
• Remote US founders outside New Hampshire. If you have no New Hampshire presence, a Delaware LLC gives you a flat $300 tax, no annual report, and the country’s most respected business court.
• Startups planning to raise venture capital. Investors expect Delaware. An LLC formed in Delaware converts cleanly to a Delaware C-corp when the term sheet arrives.
• Holding companies, real estate, and series structures. Delaware’s Court of Chancery, member privacy, and series LLC option make it the default for asset-holding stacks.

The Court of Chancery deserves emphasis: it is a business-only court with no juries, staffed by judges who decide corporate disputes all day. No other state, New Hampshire included, offers anything as predictable. Delaware also keeps members off the public record and offers a true series LLC, neither of which New Hampshire matches. For a broader view of where Delaware fits among alternatives, compare Delaware vs Wyoming, Delaware vs Texas, and Delaware vs California, three of the most common runner-up states.

Can a New Hampshire resident ever benefit from a Delaware LLC?

Sometimes — but rarely to escape New Hampshire’s report or business taxes on an operating business run from New Hampshire. The genuine cases tend to be structural. A New Hampshire resident raising venture capital will want a Delaware entity for the investors, even though the operating company still meets New Hampshire obligations, because the term sheet requires it. A New Hampshire resident building a multi-state real estate stack may form Delaware holding LLCs to keep title, governance, and disputes under Delaware’s Court of Chancery, while each property’s operating activity is handled in its own state.

What does not work is forming a Delaware LLC, running an ordinary business from a New Hampshire desk, and expecting to skip the New Hampshire report or its business taxes — the state will still treat that as transacting business in-state. So a Delaware LLC can serve a New Hampshire resident’s structural goals (investor readiness, asset segregation, a respected forum for disputes) without delivering a tax shortcut. Walk your specific facts through a New Hampshire CPA before assuming a benefit, and read our formation overview to see what the Delaware filing itself involves.

What are the ongoing obligations for each?

A Delaware LLC’s entire annual state duty is the $300 franchise tax due June 1. There is no annual report, and paying late adds a $200 penalty plus 1.5% monthly interest, so the deadline matters — see our Delaware franchise tax guide for the full rules. You also need a Delaware registered agent, included free in year one with our service and roughly $99/year to renew afterward; our registered agent page explains why it is legally required.

A New Hampshire LLC carries a recurring annual report of about $100, plus the ongoing duty to keep a New Hampshire registered agent and address current, and the potential BPT and BET filings once thresholds are crossed. Foreign-qualified Delaware LLCs operating in New Hampshire carry both sets of obligations. If your Delaware LLC is foreign-owned, you may also face federal filings such as non-resident reporting, which is unrelated to the state choice but worth planning for. Whether you choose Delaware or end up registering in New Hampshire, the flat all-in cost to get started with us is the same.

What about BOI and FinCEN reporting for either state?

Beneficial ownership reporting is in flux, and it does not depend on whether you choose Delaware or New Hampshire — it depends on federal rules. Under a March 2025 FinCEN interim final rule, BOI reporting was removed for US domestic reporting companies; broadly, only “foreign reporting companies” are expected to report, and US persons are treated as exempt. This area is evolving and the guidance has changed more than once, so treat any summary as provisional.

The practical advice is the same for a Delaware LLC and a New Hampshire LLC: confirm the current FinCEN status before you assume you do or do not need to file. Do not let BOI uncertainty drive your state choice — the meaningful, predictable differences between Delaware and New Hampshire are the flat franchise tax versus the annual report plus business taxes, and the transacting-business rules described above, not the federal reporting question. If your situation is unusual, raise it with us on WhatsApp and check FinCEN’s current guidance directly.

How should you decide between Delaware and New Hampshire?

The decision comes down to one honest question: where does the work actually happen? If you live in New Hampshire and run the business from there, a single domestic New Hampshire LLC is usually simplest, and you should plan for the annual report and the BPT and BET on your in-state activity. Forming in Delaware on top of that adds a second registered agent and a second franchise tax without removing the New Hampshire obligation — the double-fee trap. A resident operating in New Hampshire must register there regardless.

If you have no genuine New Hampshire nexus — a non-US founder, a remote operator, a holding company, or a startup raising venture capital — Delaware is the stronger home: a flat $300, no annual report, member privacy, a series LLC option, and the Court of Chancery behind any dispute. If you want to see how the choice plays out against the largest formation states, our how it works page and the comparison guides for Wyoming, Texas, and California walk through the same trade-offs.

What does it cost to form a Delaware LLC with us?

Our Delaware LLC service is $397, all-inclusive. The Delaware $110 state filing fee is already included — there are no surprise add-ons. That single flat fee covers your Certificate of Formation filed within 48 hours, EIN application (2–4 weeks for applicants without an SSN), registered agent for year one, operating agreement, US bank account application help (Mercury, Relay, or Wise), Stripe approval support, and ongoing compliance tracking, with a named specialist available on WhatsApp.

The honest caveat for New Hampshire residents is that this $397 only replaces your entity cost when your business genuinely has no New Hampshire nexus. If you live in New Hampshire and run the company from there, you will most likely still need to register the LLC in New Hampshire, file the annual report, and meet the BPT and BET on your in-state activity regardless of where it was formed — so the realistic comparison is the Delaware fee plus New Hampshire registration, not Delaware instead of New Hampshire. We will tell you which situation you are in before you pay, rather than sell you a structure that quietly costs more. For founders with no New Hampshire footprint, the Delaware route is the cleaner, more private home year after year.

From year two onward, your ongoing Delaware cost is the $300 franchise tax plus about $99 to renew your registered agent, with no annual report to file. Filing and EIN are backed by a money-back guarantee. When you are ready, see exactly what is included on our pricing page, and review the Delaware LLC overview for the full formation walkthrough.