This is a great bill to help charities fulfill their obligation to file the required annual declaration of tax-exemption. The reason it is needed is because last year in some towns, like Salem, the assessor did not follow the RSA that allowed charities forgiveness if they accidentally failed to submit their annual exemption documents on time. In our town it was the American Legion, New leadership were not told that they had to file anything. They only learned about it after the filing deadline. It took the Town Council to overturn the punitive threat levied by the then-current assessor, despite the RSA's allowance for acceptable reasons. So this new wording clarifies the compassionate practice of understanding when volunteers miss deadlines simply because they do not know, and the charity makes every effort to complete the filing as soon as they learn. Now the charity will be notified each year in advance. Problem solved!
HB421
House · 2025 sessionRepublicanDied in conferenceNotice of tax-exempt filing deadlines
AIRequires cities, towns, and the department of revenue administration to provide notice to tax-exempt organizations regarding the annual tax-exemption filing deadline.
relative to notice of tax exempt-status filing procedures by town officials or offices.
Status
Died — conference committee did not agree · June 19, 2025- ✓Introduced
- ✓House
- ✕Senate
- Governor
- Law
Division of testimony
12 submissionsAs a member of the community I have witnessed the extreme hoops that a church has to go through to maintain their exemption status. Local offiials have gone to the extremes of walking the premise and making their own determination of what parts of buildings should be considered used for religious purposes. The entire property is being used for religious purposes, if that is what the organization was created for. My church has been in existance for 50 years, and over the past years the local officials have made it harder and harder to be within the community as scripture says. Then when the church attempts to fight it the transparancy is horrible, along with the communication, and the church is punished for it.
The requirements for RSA 72:23 have been in place for good number of years. Any organization that seeks an educational or charitable exemption should know the dead line for when certain documents are due. When I worked at the Department of Revenue Administration, I knew of many communities that annually notified the prior years approved organizations as a courtesy but when you make it mandatory, especially for cities which may have dozens upon dozens of possible qualifying organizations, this is an unfunded mandate; especially since the wording of the proposed changes will force communities to send certified mail to prove the notice was mailed before April 1st. How would a community notify a newly organized entity? This is a case where if an organization desires an exemption, the burden is upon them to know the statue. It is unfortunate that some organizations may miss the deadline or simply don't comply with the law but communities should not have spend tax payer money to educate them. Maybe the Secretary of State should have a check box that confirms an entity understands the law when they submit their annual documents to the State. I personally don't feel this change to RSA 72:23 is truly needed.
https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1772586 Looking to support this bill in relation to the notice of tax exempt-status filing procedures by town officials or offices.
This bill is unnecessary and puts part of the onus for annual property tax exemption filings onto municipalities. The property owner has the responsibility to timely file the required applications and there's no reason to change this procedure as it has been well-established and in place for years. Many towns already do send out reminder notices to these property owners, but making this mandatory is overreach by the legislature.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.
Position recorded without written comment.