New Hampshire child-care tax credit 2028

New Hampshire has enacted a new tax incentive for employers that add child-care capacity, with the credit scheduled to begin in tax year 2028. House Bill 1433 creates what the bill calls the Child Day Care Creation Tax Credit Program and directs the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration to run it. (gc.nh.gov) The measure is aimed at businesses that either build child-care options themselves or work through outside providers. (gc.nh.gov) The bill says the state has a shortage of child care available to working parents and says a tax credit is intended to stimulate the creation and expansion of programs. ### Which businesses can qualify under the new law? House Bill 1433 says a business can qualify if it creates child care directly or through a third party in a New Hampshire-licensed child care program. The bill defines “creates child care” as making seats available in a program that did not exist before January 1, 2027. (gc.nh.gov) The same bill says a business can also qualify by expanding an existing program, but only if the increase adds 12 or more seats that were not available before January 1, 2027. That 12-seat threshold is one of the clearest eligibility tests in the legislation. (gc.nh.gov) ### What kinds of child-care arrangements count? The legislation says qualifying child care must be in a New Hampshire-licensed program. The bill text also allows the seats to be made available either by the business itself or through a third-party arrangement, which gives employers more than one route into the program. (gc.nh.gov) CPA Practice Advisor reported on July 8 that the credit can be taken against New Hampshire’s two main business taxes starting in 2028. Other coverage of the bill before it reached the governor described the same structure as a credit against the business profits tax or business enterprise tax. (gc.nh.gov) ### What expenses does the bill appear to contemplate? The bill text defines “operational expenditures” to include employee compensation, employee training, utilities and rent for a qualified child-care facility. That definition indicates the program is not limited to construction or startup costs alone. (gc.nh.gov) The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration already lists a range of managed and non-managed tax credit programs on its website. As of July 9, the child-care credit was not yet listed among those program pages, which is consistent with a later rollout. (newhampshirebulletin.com) ### How did the measure move through Concord? The General Court’s bill-tracking page shows HB 1433 was introduced on January 7, 2026, passed the House with amendment on March 5, and later cleared Senate committees. The same page lists the bill’s status as “PASSED/ADOPTED WITH AMENDMENT.” (gc.nh.gov) Governor Kelly Ayotte had backed the proposal publicly before final passage. In a March 9 statement, Ayotte said she was glad to see the House pass a tax credit to encourage businesses to help meet child-care needs for their workforce. (revenue.nh.gov) ### What happens next before employers can use it? The Department of Revenue Administration is the agency the bill says should administer the new credit program. That means employers and tax advisers will be looking for application details, forms and guidance before the 2028 start date. (gc.nh.gov) January 1, 2027, is the key cutoff embedded in the law for measuring whether seats are newly created or expanded, and tax year 2028 is when the credit is scheduled to begin applying. Businesses considering participation will need to track whether their projects meet those dates and the 12-seat threshold in the statute. (gc.nh.gov) (governor.nh.gov)