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How a New Hampshire Town Sets Its Veteran Property Tax Credits

Every veteran property tax benefit above the $50 statewide floor is adopted town by town under RSA 72:27-a, and the town picks the amount. A later increase in a statutory ceiling does not reach a town that already adopted the credit until that town votes again.

Also called: 72:27-a, local option, warrant article, town meeting, RSA 39:3, RSA 49-C, RSA 49-D, re-adoption, paragraph IV.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

Read this entry before any of the New Hampshire property tax entries, because it decides what the others are worth where you live. RSA 72:27-a, I lets any town or city adopt the provisions of RSA 72:28, RSA 72:28-b, RSA 72:29-a, RSA 72:35, RSA 72:37, RSA 72:37-b, RSA 72:38-b, RSA 72:39-a and several others. Four of those are the veteran credits: the optional veterans' tax credit, the all veterans' tax credit, the surviving spouse credit, and the optional credit for service-connected total disability. RSA 72:28-c, the combat service credit, carries its own adoption clause pointing back at the same procedure. How the adoption happens depends on the form of government. In a town without a charter adopted under RSA 49-D, the question goes on the warrant of a special or annual town meeting, put there by the governing body or by petition under RSA 39:3. In a city, or a town with a charter under RSA 49-C or 49-D, the legislative body may act on the question through its normal procedure for resolutions and ordinances, or may vote to put it on the official ballot at a regular municipal election. Paragraph II is where the money is decided: "The vote shall specify the provisions of the property tax exemption or credit, the amount of such exemption or credit, and the manner of its determination." So the amount is not a state figure. It is whatever the meeting or the council voted, inside the statutory band. A majority of those voting carries it, and it takes effect on the date the governing body sets or in the tax year beginning April 1 following adoption, whichever comes first. Paragraph III lets a municipality modify or rescind a credit by the same procedure. A credit a town granted in 2018 can be reduced or taken away at a later meeting. Paragraph IV is the provision that catches people, and it is worth quoting: "An amendment to a statutory provision listed in paragraph I related to an exemption or credit amount or to the eligibility or application of an exemption or credit, shall apply in a municipality which previously adopted the provision only after the municipality complies with the procedure in this section, unless otherwise expressly required by law." That means a legislative increase is an increase in the ceiling, not in anybody's credit. When 2026 chapter 96 raised the optional veterans' credit band from $750 to $1,000 effective April 1, 2027, it did not give a single veteran another $250. It gave every town the option of voting for one. A town that adopted a $500 credit in 2019 still has a $500 credit until it votes again. The same logic applies to the combat service credit going to $750 and the surviving spouse credit going to $2,500. It also cuts the other way, and this is the part to use. Paragraph IV speaks of an amendment "related to an exemption or credit amount or to the eligibility or application" of one. When 2026 chapter 252 broadened the discharge standard on August 31, 2026 by pointing RSA 72:28-b and RSA 72:35 at the RSA 21:50 definition, that is an amendment related to eligibility, so on the face of paragraph IV a town that adopted those credits earlier has to comply with the procedure before the wider eligibility applies there. Expect that question to be unsettled at your town office. The escape hatch in the same sentence, "unless otherwise expressly required by law", is what an assessor will look for. Practical consequence: there is no such thing as "the New Hampshire veterans' property tax credit amount". Call the town or city assessing office, ask which of RSA 72:28, 72:28-b, 72:28-c, 72:29-a, 72:35 and 72:36-a the municipality has adopted, ask the voted amount for each, and ask the date of the vote. The only figure that is true everywhere is the $50 standard credit in RSA 72:28, I, which needs no adoption.

Thresholds

Thresholds for How a New Hampshire Town Sets Its Veteran Property Tax Credits
GateRule
The town or city must have voted to adopt the provisionRSA 72:27-a, I and II. Adoption is by town meeting warrant article, by petition under RSA 39:3, or by a city or chartered town’s legislative body or official ballot. The vote specifies the amount.
The amount is the voted amount, inside the statutory bandRSA 72:27-a, II requires the vote to specify the amount and the manner of its determination. Only the $50 standard veterans’ tax credit in RSA 72:28, I applies without an adoption vote.
A later statutory increase needs a fresh vote in a town that already adoptedRSA 72:27-a, IV. An amendment to a credit amount or to eligibility applies in a municipality that previously adopted the provision only after the municipality complies with the adoption procedure, unless otherwise expressly required by law.
A town can also reduce or rescind a creditRSA 72:27-a, III permits a municipality to modify or rescind the exemptions and credits in paragraph I by the same procedure used to adopt them.

Sources

Legislation

Law the tracker is watching for this entry. See the legislation tracker for every jurisdiction.

Laws of New Hampshire 2026, chapter 96 Raised three veteran property tax credit ceilings effective April 1, 2027

Watching a later dateEnactedFigure moved

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 Scheduled for , step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Raises the ceilings on the optional veterans', combat service and surviving spouse credits, though a town must vote again before its amount rises.

Amends RSA 72:28, II to raise the optional veterans’ tax credit band from $51 to $750 up to $51 to $1,000; RSA 72:28-c, II to raise the optional tax credit for combat service from $50 to $500 up to $50 to $750; and RSA 72:29-a, II to raise the optional surviving spouse credit from $701 to $2,000 up to $701 to $2,500. All three take effect April 1, 2027, and the published statutes print the current and future versions of each paragraph side by side under bracketed effective-date headers. Tracked as watching a later date, and flagged in substance for a reason particular to New Hampshire: none of these increases reaches a single veteran automatically. RSA 72:27-a, IV provides that an amendment to a credit amount applies in a municipality that previously adopted the provision only after the municipality complies with the adoption procedure, so a town that adopted a credit in an earlier year keeps its voted amount until a fresh warrant article or council vote passes. The act raises ceilings, not credits, and a veteran told their credit is going up in April 2027 should ask whether their town has voted.

Sponsor

  • Diane PauerRepublican, House, Hillsborough 36

And 8 co-sponsors

Touches N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:28, II · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:28-c, II · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 72:29-a, II

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.