Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
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Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in retirement, you stop paying Massachusetts income tax on withdrawals and leave a Massachusetts death tax behind. Four separate taxes change when you move — state income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. Most comparisons only price the first one.
Massachusetts vs New Hampshire: every tax that changes
| What changes | Massachusetts (leaving) | New Hampshire (arriving) |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | flat 5% plus 4% surtax on taxable income over ~$1,107,750 (2026, indexed) — effectively 2 brackets (5%/9%) | none (Interest & Dividends Tax repealed for taxable periods beginning after 12/31/2024) |
| Social Security | not taxed (exempt) | Not taxed. |
| Pension / 401(k) / IRA | Massachusetts state and local and U.S. government contributory pensions are exempt (M.G.L. c. 62, sec. 2(a)(2)(E)); private pensions, 401(k) and IRA distributions are taxed at the flat rate. | Not taxed. |
| Estate tax | yes – $2,000,000 effective exemption via a $99,600 credit, for deaths on/after 1/1/2023; graduated rates 0.8%-16% (top 16%); no indexing | none |
| Inheritance tax | none | none |
| Probate fee model | reasonable-fee | reasonable-fee |
| Probate filing fee | $390 informal probate total ($375 petition + $15 surcharge); $405 formal probate ($375 + $15 surcharge + $15 citation); $115 voluntary administration — official mass.gov procedural guides | Petition for estate administration: $150 for an estate valued at $10,000 or less, $205 for $10,001 to $25,000, and $305 for more than $25,000 (NH Circuit Court Probate Division, Rule 169 fee schedule effective 7/1/2025). |
| Small-estate limit | Voluntary administration (MGL c.190B §3-1201): personal property ≤$25,000 (excluding one motor vehicle), no solely owned real estate, 30-day wait; filed with Probate & Family Court for $115. | No dollar-based small-estate affidavit. Instead, waiver of full administration under RSA 553:32 (no inventory, bond, or accounting) when e.g. the surviving spouse is sole heir/beneficiary and serves as administrator (statute extends to certain sole-heir situations); completed by affidavit of administration filed 6-12 months after appointment. |
Every cell is quoted from our statute-cited 51-jurisdiction dataset. Download the full dataset as CSV.
1. What changes on your annual tax bill
Massachusetts taxes retirement withdrawals: Massachusetts state/local and U.S. New Hampshire does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the Massachusetts bill is whatever its flat 5% plus 4% surtax on taxable income over ~$1,107,750 (2026, indexed) — effectively 2 brackets (5%/9%) schedule produces; in New Hampshire it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — Massachusetts: not taxed (exempt) New Hampshire: Not taxed.
2. What changes at death: state estate tax
This is usually the larger number. Massachusetts levies an estate tax — yes – $2,000,000 effective exemption via a $99,600 credit, for deaths on/after 1/1/2023; graduated rates 0.8%-16% (top 16%); no indexing — and New Hampshire levies none (none). Establishing domicile in New Hampshire removes that exposure for assets that are not Massachusetts real property.
3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax
Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Massachusetts: none New Hampshire: none
4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs
Massachusetts uses a reasonable-fee fee model (MUPC: reasonable compensation for PR and counsel (MGL c.190B §3-719); no percentage schedule.); New Hampshire uses a reasonable-fee model (No statutory percentage schedule; executor/administrator and attorney compensation is allowed by the Circuit Court Probate Division as just and reasonable (see RSA ch. 554 et seq. and probate court practice). Exact compensation section not pinned to primary source in this pass.). Filing fees — Massachusetts: $390 informal probate total ($375 petition + $15 surcharge); $405 formal probate ($375 + $15 surcharge + $15 citation); $115 voluntary administration — official mass.gov procedural guides New Hampshire: Petition for estate administration: $150 for an estate valued at $10,000 or less, $205 for $10,001 to $25,000, and $305 for more than $25,000 (NH Circuit Court Probate Division, Rule 169 fee schedule effective 7/1/2025).
Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.
Does this actually apply to you?
Below $1,000,000 no US state estate tax applies anywhere — Oregon has the lowest threshold in the country and that is where it starts. So for most estates the whole “escape the death tax” framing is irrelevant, and the only thing that changes when you move is your annual income tax. Here is exactly where the line falls for this pair:
| Estate value | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500,000 | Under $2,000,000 | No estate tax |
| $3,000,000 | Taxed (over $2,000,000) | No estate tax |
| $6,000,000 | Taxed (over $2,000,000) | No estate tax |
| $10,000,000 | Taxed (over $2,000,000) | No estate tax |
Thresholds are the 2026 figures in our verified dataset and apply to the taxable estate. Federal estate tax is separate and far higher. Test your own number with the comparison tool.
Probate cost in each state, specifically
Massachusetts uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. New Hampshire uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its RSA 553:32 waiver route can be used for an estate that includes real estate, because the affidavit of administration must list all real estate the decedent owned. The two states differ on that question, which is exactly the kind of thing a move changes. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: Massachusetts probate cost and New Hampshire probate cost.
Four taxes, two states, one order of operations
Everything above changes together: what Massachusetts stops taking on withdrawals, what New Hampshire does not take at death, and what probate costs in each. The order you do things in — when you establish domicile, when you convert, when you retitle property — changes the total, and some of it cannot be undone afterwards. If a move is genuinely on the table, here is what to look for in an advisor who knows both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.
Will Massachusetts still tax me after I move to New Hampshire?
Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.
- Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing state can and does audit residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count.
- Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in Massachusetts can keep part of the estate within reach of Massachusetts rules even after you become a New Hampshire resident.
- A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after establishing the new domicile is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.
If you keep a home in Massachusetts, what happens at death?
Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Massachusetts levies an estate tax, and it reaches a nonresident decedent’s real property situated there — so a home kept behind after the move stays within Massachusetts’s reach even once New Hampshire is your legal home for every other purpose. Nonresidents taxed on Massachusetts-situs real property and tangible personal property; computed as if resident then reduced by an apportionment fraction.
Apportionment fraction is Massachusetts property divided by total gross estate. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: a Massachusetts nonresident decedent affidavit is required as well as the return. Authority: Form M-706 Part 3 / Form M-NRA.
This is the exposure that survives a move, and it is the one worth pricing before the move rather than after. The house also stays within that state’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live — the ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. Confirm the current figures with the state revenue department or a licensed professional before acting — thresholds move, and the arithmetic depends on the whole estate, not just the house.
Full state detail
Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: Massachusetts retirement taxes and New Hampshire retirement taxes. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.
Widen the comparison
This page prices one corridor. To see every destination Massachusetts retirees consider and every origin state moving to New Hampshire, start there instead. For any pair not covered, the retirement tax comparison tool runs all 51 jurisdictions, and the probate cost calculator works out what settling the estate costs in each.
Talking this through
Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order you do them in changes the total. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide.
Cite or share this comparison
Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “Massachusetts to New Hampshire Retirement Taxes (2026),” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/massachusetts-to-new-hampshire-retirement-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution. Download the full dataset as CSV, or contact contact@clearmoneyguide.com for custom cuts.
Figures verified against M.G.L. c. 62 sec. 2 and c. 65C sec. 2A, the Massachusetts DOR estate tax guide and tax rates page, mass.gov probate fee pages, c. 190B sec. 3-1201, RSA 553:32, the RSA chapter 77 repeal note and the RSA chapter 87 table of contents on September 30, 2026; the New Hampshire probate filing-fee range, RSA ch. 554 compensation wording, the New Hampshire estate and inheritance tax statements, the Technical Information Release 2025-001 citation, c. 190B sec. 3-719 and the 0.8% to 16% rate table were not re-checked.
Primary sources
- M.G.L. c. 62 § 2(a)(2)(E)
- Mass.gov: Tax Treatment of Government Pensions in Massachusetts
- M.G.L. c. 65C, sec. 2A (as amended by St. 2023, c. 50)
- NH DRA Technical Information Release 2025-001 (I&D repeal)
- former RSA 77 (repealed)
- MGL c.190B §3-719
- MGL c.190B §3-1201
- N.H. RSA 553:32
- N.H. RSA ch. 554
Methodology: every figure is quoted from Clear Money Guide’s statute-cited 51-jurisdiction datasets, compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Nothing here is personalized tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.