(New Title) relative to meals and rooms taxes.

HB 1090-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

19Feb2026... 0434h
2026 SESSION
26-2527
07/05

HOUSE BILL
1090-FN

AN ACT
relative to meals and rooms taxes.

SPONSORS: Rep. Spahr, Graf. 12

COMMITTEE: Ways and Means

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill creates a flat tax rate on meals.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in
bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [
in brackets and struckthrough.
]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19Feb2026... 0434h 26-2527
07/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT
relative to meals and rooms taxes.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Subparagraphs; Taxation; Tax On Meals and Rooms; Definitions. Amend RSA 78-A:3, VI by inserting after subparagraph (d) the following new subparagraph:
(e) Separately stated charges for highway tolls electronically billed to the owner of the motor vehicle.
2 Taxation; Tax on Meals and Rooms; Imposition of Tax. RSA 78-A:6, II-III is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
II. A tax of 8.5 percent is imposed for taxable meals, provided that cents or fractions of cents shall be rounded up to the next whole nickel.
III. A tax of 8.5 percent is imposed upon the gross rental receipts of each rental or motor vehicle rental.
IV. The operator shall collect the taxes imposed by this section and shall pay them over to the state as provided in this chapter.

3 Taxation; Tax on Meals and Rooms; Disposition of Revenue. Amend RSA 78-A:26, II to read as follows:
II. Beginning on July 1, [
1999
]
2027
, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the department shall pay over all revenue collected pursuant to RSA 78-A:6, [
II-a
]
III
to the state treasurer for deposit in the education trust fund established by RSA 198:39.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2027.

LBA
26-2527
02/26/2026

HB 1090-FN-
FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT # 2026-0434h)

AN ACT
relative to meals and rooms taxes.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Estimated State Impact

FY 2026
FY 2027
FY 2028
FY 2029

Revenue
$0
$0
Indeterminable Increase
Indeterminable Increase

Revenue Fund(s)
General Fund and Education Trust Fund

Expenditures*
$0
$0
$0
$0

Funding Source(s)
None

Appropriations*
$0
$0
$0
$0

Funding Source(s)
None

*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill

METHODOLOGY:
This bill makes minor changes to the administration of the Meals and Rooms tax (M&R) by eliminating the current schedule for taxable meals under $1.00 in price and making all taxable meals taxed at the 8.5% rate; and changes the rounding to be up to the next whole nickel for taxable meals. The bill also clarifies that gross rental receipts does not include separately stated charges for highway tolls electronically billed to the owner of the vehicle.

The Department of Revenue Administration does not have sufficient data to estimate the fiscal impact of the toll charge change. The Department believes that operators may already be excluding passed-through pay-by-plate highway toll charges from their reported gross rental receipts but should be including their add-on charges with respect to those tolls as well as charges for company-owned toll devices that are added to a rental at a flat daily price or other similar charges. This is consistent with the tax treatment of motor fuel charges, although the Department’s rules are silent with respect to toll charges. The Department would interpret the proposed legislation as clarifying and would expand its current rules according to the foregoing interpretation.

The Department states eliminating the current rounding schedule, will require operators to collect tax on every transaction no matter how small and could be required to collect tax of a nickel on a penny transaction. The rounding changes will also impact operators’ practices and may require modifications to their point of service (POS) systems in order to remain compliant. The Department states the bill does not modify rounding for occupancies or gross rental receipts which may pose difficulties particularly for operators of hotels that collect M&R for both occupancies and taxable meals.

The Department states General Fund and Education Trust Fund revenue will increase by an indeterminable, but not material, amount by changing the rounding on taxable meals to the next whole nickel. The Department estimates a M&R revenue increase of approximately $24,000 per year based on the following: 75% of all taxable meal sales and over half of all M&R collected is attributable to restaurants and there are 3,406 total businesses with 250 transactions per day. The Department did not locate similar transaction data for other types of operators but does not believe that non-restaurant meals operators or occupancies and gross rental receipts operators, if included, would provide a revenue impact much different than the impact provided for restaurants above.

The Department would need to update forms and information systems to implement this bill. The Department does not anticipate this bill will result in any additional administrative costs that could not be absorbed within the Department's operating budget.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Revenue Administration