NEW HAMPSHIRE 
Yield Tax.! 
Mandatory. Enacted 1949. Amended 1951 and 1953. 
Reenacted 1955. Amended 1959, 1961, and 1963. 
Revised Statutes Annotated 1955, Ch. 79 (New). 
Classification 
There is no provision for classification since 
application of the law is mandatory. Forest land- 
owners subject to tax are defined to include 
purchases of timber from public forests. 
Tax treatment 
Land. Forest land remains subject to the general 
property tax. 
Timber. A normal yield tax of 10 percent of 
stumpage value is assessed. In addition, a tem- 
porary “bond and debt retirement tax”’ of 2 per- 
cent of stumpage value is to be levied until such 
time as sufficient funds have accumulated to cover 
all indebtedness incurred by the State under reim- 
bursement provisions of the law (see below). 
Timber which an owner fails to cut when it has 
arrived at a degree of maturity most suitable for 
its use becomes subject to the general property 
tax, provided such failure to cut, in the opinion 
of assessing officials, unreasonably deprives a town 
of revenue. Property taxes paid under this pro- 
vision are credited against any yield taxes later 
imposed. 
Exemption. The yield tax does not apply to 
timber cut by the owner for use in construction or 
fencing on his property within the State, or for 
domestic fuel or for manufacture of maple sugar 
or syrup. Also exempt is timber cut by local 
governmental bodies within their own boundaries 
and, under certain circumstances, timber cut in 
clearing rights-of-way or water storage reservoirs 
incidental to furnishing public utility services. 
Tax administration 
Reports. Owners are required to file with the 
State Tax Commission a notice of intent to cut, 
setting forth an estimate of the quantity and 
species to be harvested, together with such other 
information as may be required. A copy of such 
notice is forwarded by the Tax Commission to 
local assessing officials and to the Department of 
Resources and Economic Development. The owner 
may be required to provide security that the tax 
will be paid. 
Owners are required to file with the State Tax 
Commission annually a report of all timber severed 
during the preceding year. A copy of this report is 
1 Known as the “Timber Tax.” 
43 
forwarded by the Tax Commission to the local 
assessing officials who then assess the tax. In de- 
termining stumpage value for yield tax purposes 
the sale price is to be considered if open competi- 
tive bidding on a per cord or per thousand basis is 
used; otherwise, assessing officials give considera- 
tion to prices on comparable sales in the vicinity 
in which competitive bidding was used, to other 
timber sale prices, to the relative difficulty of 
logging and to current operating costs, including 
a reasonable margin for profit and risk. 
Stumpage value is determined upon the basis of 
log scale except in the case of forest products 
customarily measured by ricked cord scale or by 
the piece. If any other measure is used, assessing 
officials determine the proper log scale by use of a 
conversion ratio furnished by the State Forester. 
Collection. Yield taxes are collected in the same 
manner as other local taxes. 
Appeals. An owner who fails to secure abate- 
ment of yield taxes following an appeal to local 
assessing officials may petition the superior court 
of the county or a special 3-member appeal board. 
The latter is composed of a representative of the 
aggrieved owner, a representative of the State 
Tax Commission, and a representative of the 
State Forester. 
Use of revenue 
The normal yield tax is retained by cities and 
towns for their general use. The temporary bond 
and debt retirement tax is paid into the State 
treasury to cover interest, retirement of bonds, or 
other indebtedness incurred under the reimburse- 
ment provisions of the law. Special provisions 
apply to the collection and distribution of yield 
taxes from unorganized towns and unincorporated 
places; such provisions permit use of funds by the 
State Forester for such purposes as the construc- 
tion of access roads and forest fire and pest control. 
State reembursement of local governments 
A Forest Conservation Aid Fund and a Special 
Aid Fund for Heavily Timbered Towns are estab- 
lished to reimburse towns for loss of revenue 
occasioned by exemption of timber from the prop- 
erty tax. A heavily timbered town is defined as one 
in which the average assessed timber valuation for 
the years 1944-48 inclusive was 10 percent or more 
of the total locally assessed valuation, as State 
equalized and as adjusted for a veteran’s tax 
exemption. 
