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New Hampshire All Veterans’ Tax Credit

The same amount as the town’s RSA 72:28 credit, but with the wartime requirement removed, so peacetime service qualifies. Since August 31, 2026 it accepts a general discharge under honorable conditions and an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury.

Also called: 72:28-b, all veterans tax credit, peacetime, no qualifying war, 2016 chapter 217, 2026 chapter 252, state active duty, three-year phase in.

For: Veteran or service member, spouse, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

RSA 72:28-b exists because RSA 72:28 leaves out every veteran who never served inside a listed wartime period. A town that adopts this section extends the same credit to service in any era. The amount is not separately chosen. Paragraph II: "The credit granted under this section shall be the same as the amount of the standard or optional veterans' tax credit in effect in the town or city under RSA 72:28." So a town with a $500 optional credit that adopts this section grants $500 here too. A town that never adopted an optional credit grants $50. There is a phase-in for the towns that had an existing credit before the section came in. A municipality with a standard or optional credit in place before August 18, 2016 that adopts this section "may phase in the amount of the all veterans' tax credit over a 3-year period to match the standard or optional veterans' tax credit". A veteran in such a town during the phase-in receives less under this section than a wartime veteran receives under RSA 72:28, lawfully. Eligibility, from paragraph IV, is a resident who is a veteran as defined in RSA 21:50, who "served not less than 90 days on active service in the armed forces of the United States and continues to serve or was discharged of a character outlined in RSA 21:50 or an officer who continues to serve or was honorably separated from service", or the spouse or surviving spouse of such a resident. Training for active duty, and also state active duty, by a National Guard or reserve member counts as service under this paragraph. Two differences from RSA 72:28 matter. There is no wartime list. Ninety days of active service in any period is enough. And the discharge standard is wider. 2026 chapter 252, section 7, effective August 31, 2026, put "discharged of a character outlined in RSA 21:50" into this paragraph. RSA 21:50, I(a)(2) covers an honorable discharge, an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness or disability, and a general discharge under honorable conditions. So a veteran with a general discharge qualifies here and does not qualify under RSA 72:28, which still says "honorably discharged". Published guidance has not caught up with this, and a veteran who was turned away before August 31, 2026 should apply again. State active duty counting as service is also worth noting. A New Hampshire Guard member whose only qualifying time is state active duty ordered by the governor, for a flood or a storm response, can reach 90 days across deployments and is inside this section. The equivalent language in RSA 72:28, IV(a) mentions only "training for active duty". The exclusivity clause is the trap: the person qualifies "provided however that the person is not eligible for and is not receiving a credit under RSA 72:28 or RSA 72:35." Note the two limbs. Not merely not receiving, but not eligible for. A wartime veteran who is eligible for the RSA 72:28 credit cannot elect this one instead, which matters only during a phase-in or where the amounts differ. And a veteran eligible for the RSA 72:35 total disability credit is outside this section altogether. The three veteran credits and the combat credit therefore form a single choice rather than a stack: RSA 72:28 for wartime service, RSA 72:28-b for any service, RSA 72:28-c for combat service, RSA 72:35 for service-connected total disability, and a person takes one.

Thresholds

Thresholds for New Hampshire All Veterans’ Tax Credit
GateRule
90 days of active service in any era, wartime not requiredRSA 72:28-b, IV. Training for active duty and state active duty by a National Guard or reserve member both count as service under this paragraph, which is wider than the "training for active duty" language in RSA 72:28, IV(a).
A discharge of a character outlined in RSA 21:50, which includes a general discharge2026 chapter 252, section 7, effective August 31, 2026, replaced the older discharge language with a cross-reference to RSA 21:50, whose definition reaches an honorable discharge, a general discharge under honorable conditions, and an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness or disability.
The town must have adopted the section, and the amount matches its RSA 72:28 creditRSA 72:28-b, I and II. A municipality with a credit in place before August 18, 2016 may phase the all veterans’ credit in over three years to match.
Not available to someone eligible for the RSA 72:28 or RSA 72:35 creditRSA 72:28-b, IV. The bar is on being eligible for those credits, not merely on receiving one, so a wartime veteran cannot elect this credit instead.

Sources

Legislation

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Laws of New Hampshire 2026, chapter 252 Pointed the veteran benefit statutes at the RSA 21:50 discharge standard, widening several at once

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed Takes effect

  1. Introduced Done, , step 1 of 6
  2. In committee Done, , step 2 of 6
  3. Passed one chamber Done, , step 3 of 6
  4. Passed both chambers Done, , step 4 of 6
  5. Signed by the governor Done, , step 5 of 6
  6. In effect Done, , step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Points several veteran tax credits, the Veterans Home and the employment preference at the RSA 21:50 definition, which reaches a general discharge.

A conforming act with substantive effect. Effective August 31, 2026 it replaced older discharge language with a cross-reference to the definition in RSA 21:50 across the code, touching at least RSA 72:28-b (all veterans’ tax credit), RSA 72:35 (tax credit for service-connected total disability), RSA 72:36-a (exemption for a specially adapted homestead), RSA 119:1 and 119:2 (the New Hampshire Veterans’ Home and the qualifications of its board of managers), RSA 119:6 (veteran employment preference at the home), RSA 283:4 (preference in public employment) and RSA 261:86 (special number plates for former prisoners of war, Purple Heart recipients and Pearl Harbor survivors). Because RSA 21:50, I(a)(2) reaches an honorable discharge, a general discharge under honorable conditions and an uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness or disability, every one of those provisions is now open to a veteran with a general discharge who was previously outside it. RSA 72:28, the standard and optional wartime credit, was not amended and still requires an honorable discharge, so the two neighbouring property tax credits now carry different discharge tests. Tracked because no published New Hampshire benefit guidance reflects the change, a veteran refused before August 31, 2026 should apply again, and because RSA 72:27-a, IV arguably requires a town that previously adopted RSA 72:28-b, 72:35 or 72:36-a to vote again before the wider eligibility applies locally, which is unresolved.

Sponsor

  • Daniel InnisRepublican, Senate, District 7

And 16 co-sponsors

Touches N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:28-b · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:35 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:36-a · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 119:1, 119:2 and 119:6 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 283:4 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 261:86

Also touches

Official record

Laws of New Hampshire 2016, chapter 217 Created the all veterans’ tax credit, dropping the wartime service requirement

Catalog reconciledEnactedProgram created

Signed Takes effect

  1. Introduced Done, , step 1 of 6
  2. In committee Done, , step 2 of 6
  3. Passed one chamber Done, , step 3 of 6
  4. Passed both chambers Done, , step 4 of 6
  5. Signed by the governor Done, , step 5 of 6
  6. In effect Done, , step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Lets a town extend its veterans' tax credit to a veteran with 90 days of service in any era, not only wartime.

Added RSA 72:28-b effective August 8, 2016, letting a town or city adopt a credit equal to its existing standard or optional veterans’ tax credit under RSA 72:28 but open to a veteran who served 90 days on active service in any era rather than only within a listed qualifying war or armed conflict. Training for active duty by a National Guard or reserve member counts as service. The credit is unavailable to a person who is eligible for or receiving a credit under RSA 72:28 or RSA 72:35, so the credits form a single choice rather than a stack. A municipality that already had a standard or optional credit before August 18, 2016 and adopts this section may phase the all veterans’ credit in over three years to match. Tracked for two reasons. The phase-in date of August 18, 2016 in the text of paragraph II does not match the act’s own effective date of August 8, 2016, and a town relying on the phase-in may be reading a ten-day window that the act does not explain. And because the credit exists only where a town has voted for it under RSA 72:27-a, a peacetime veteran’s eligibility turns entirely on the municipality, which no statewide summary can state.

Sponsor

  • Frederick RiceRepublican, House, Rockingham 21

And 5 co-sponsors

Touches N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:28-b · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:29 · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:33

Also touches

Official record

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Disclaimer

VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.