How Your Property Tax Is Figured, and How to Read Your Bill

How your town or city assesses your property, how the tax rate is set, what your property tax bill must show, when it is due, and the exemptions, credits and deferrals you can apply for.

Checked against its sources October 12, 2026.

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At a Glance

Your town or city assesses your property at its market value as of April 1, and must revalue every property at least every fifth year. The voters and officials of your town, school district and county set their budgets, and the state works out the rate that raises them. Your bill shows your assessment and four rates: town, local school, state education and county. If the tax is hard to pay, you may qualify for an exemption or credit, for which you apply to your town by April 15, or a deferral, by March 1 after the final bill.

Your town assesses your property at its market value, as of April 1.
The budgets are voted; the state sets the rate that raises them.
Your bill shows your assessment and four rates: town, local school, state education and county.
Is something wrong, or is the tax hard to pay?
- The assessment is too highAsk your town for an abatement, by March 1 after the final bill.
- It is hard to payApply to your town by April 15 for an exemption or credit, or by March 1 for a deferral.

Step by Step

Understanding your bill

How your property is assessed
Your town or city’s assessors or selectmen appraise your land and buildings at their market value: what the law calls their full and true value. Each year they adjust assessments for changes, such as an addition, a new owner, a subdivision or a change in zoning, and to correct errors, so that every assessment in town stays in proportion. At least every fifth year they reappraise every property in town at full value.
The tax year runs from April 1 to March 31, and every property is taxed on what it was on April 1.
The law: RSA 75:1, RSA 75:8, RSA 75:8-a, RSA 76:2
How the tax rate is set
Your property tax pays for four things: your town or city, your local schools, the state’s education tax, and your county, and a village district’s where there is one. Each is voted by its own body: town meeting or the city council, the school district meeting, the county convention. The state’s Department of Revenue Administration checks each budget and estimate of revenue, then computes and sets the tax rate for each town and city.
The state education tax rate is set by the Department each year to raise a sum the law fixes statewide.
The law: RSA 76:5, RSA 21-J:35, RSA 76:3
Read your bill
The law says what every property tax bill must show:
- The rates for the municipal, local education, state education and county taxes, each separately.
- Your assessed valuation: the value of the land and buildings you are taxed on.
- Your right to ask for an abatement, in writing, from your selectmen or assessors.
- A statement on tax relief, on the bill or with it, at least as much as this: “If you are elderly, disabled, blind, a veteran, or veteran’s spouse, or are unable to pay taxes due to poverty or other good cause, you may be eligible for a tax exemption, credit, abatement, or deferral.”
- The date interest starts, which the tax collector sets by the day the last bill went out.
The law: RSA 76:11-a, RSA 76:11, RSA 76:13
When it is due
A town that has voted to bill twice a year sends a first bill, worked out from last year’s assessment and half of last year’s rate, due July 1, and a second bill for the rest of the year’s tax, once the new rate is set, due December 1. Ask your tax collector which your town does.
Tax not paid by its due date is charged interest at 8 percent a year. Where the bills go out late, interest does not start until 30 days after they were mailed. The bill says the date.
The law: RSA 76:15-a, RSA 76:13

Relief and appeals

Apply for an exemption or credit by April 15, or a deferral by March 1

New Hampshire law lets each town and city offer relief to some owners, and the town’s voters or council decide which it offers and, within the law’s limits, how much. Ask your assessing office or the selectmen what yours offers. You apply once, on the state’s form, to your selectmen or assessors, by April 15, and the application stands from year to year while you live in the same home, though your town may ask you to update your information as often as once a year.

Property tax relief a town may offer (RSA 72)
Relief	Who it is for	How much
Elderly exemption	Owners 65 or older who have lived in New Hampshire for at least 3 consecutive years, under the town’s limits on income and assets	Set by the town by age group, never less than $5,000 off the assessed value. The income limit is never under $13,400 single or $20,400 married, and the asset limit, not counting your home, never under $35,000.
Exemption for the blind	Owners who are legally blind	$15,000 off the assessed value of your home, or more if the town votes it
Exemption for the disabled	Owners eligible for Social Security disability benefits (SSDI or SSI) who have lived in New Hampshire at least 5 years and live in the home, under the town’s limits on income and assets, where the town has adopted it	Set by the town
Veterans’ tax credit	A veteran who served at least 90 days in a qualifying war or conflict and was honorably discharged, or the veteran’s spouse or surviving spouse	$50 off the tax, or the town’s optional credit of $51 up to $750 ($1,000 from April 1, 2027)

Other credits exist, among them for a veteran with a total and permanent service-connected disability, and for the surviving spouse of a service member who died on active duty; the assessing office has the list.

A tax deferral lets an owner who is 65 or older, or eligible for Social Security disability benefits, put off all or part of the tax, with interest at 5 percent a year, if paying it would cause undue hardship. You must live in the home and have owned it for at least 5 consecutive years if you apply by age, or one year if you apply by disability. Apply by March 1 after the final tax bill. A mortgage lender must agree.

Find your town or city clerk

The law: RSA 72:33, RSA 72:27-a, RSA 72:39-a, RSA 72:39-b, RSA 72:37, RSA 72:37-b, RSA 72:28, RSA 72:35, RSA 72:29-a, RSA 72:38-a

If your assessment is wrong, or you cannot pay
If you think your assessment is higher than your property is worth, or you cannot pay because of poverty, ask your town for an abatement by March 1 after the final bill: the guide to appealing your assessment has every step and deadline. If your household income is low or moderate, the state refunds part of the education tax: apply between May 1 and June 30.
How to appeal your assessment Property tax relief on a low or moderate income
The law: RSA 76:16

Common Questions

What is the equalization ratio?

Between revaluations, assessments can drift from what properties sell for, and a town’s equalization ratio measures how far; the guide to appealing your assessment explains how to use it.

Why did my tax change when my assessment did not?

Your tax can change even when your assessment does not: when a budget rises or falls, or other revenue changes.

Can my mortgage lender get a copy of my bill?

If you have a mortgage, your lender can ask the town for a copy of your bill.

What happens to deferred tax when the home is sold or the owner dies?

When the home is sold, the deferred tax and its interest must be paid in full. When the owner dies, the heirs may pay it off within 9 months; after that the town may send it to the tax collector.

Who Can Help

Your town or city’s assessing office, or the selectmen’s office in a small town, answers questions about your assessment and the relief your town offers, and has the application forms. The tax collector answers questions about a bill, a payment or interest; the town clerk’s office can tell you who yours is.

Find your town or city clerk