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How to Start an Esthetics Business in New Hampshire
The esthetician license is the hardest working credential in New Hampshire's beauty chapter. It takes 600 hours in an approved school under RSA 313-A:13, or 1,200 hours by apprenticeship under the board's rules, plus the examination, and it costs $50 for two years from the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. What it buys is a definition with unusual reach: RSA 313-A:1 VIII covers the care of the skin, names applying eyelashes expressly, and extends to manicure and pedicure services, so one mid-length license supports a facial practice, a lash book and basic nail services at the same address. It is also one of the two licenses, with cosmetology, that can carry the microblading certificate under the body art rules. The studio itself holds the chapter's shop license at $100 for two years plus a $100 inspection fee on the first application. Underneath sits the stack every New Hampshire business shares: a $100 LLC with a $100 annual report due between January 1 and April 1, a $50 trade name that runs five years, no sales tax on services or retail skin care, and the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax above their thresholds. This guide walks the route in the order an owner takes it, with every figure traced to the statute or rule that sets it.
New Hampshire sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026
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Who regulates esthetics in New Hampshire
Esthetics answers to the Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics inside the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, under chapter 313-A of the Revised Statutes. OPLC's executive director issues the licenses and sets the fees by rule under RSA 310:5, priced to recover up to 125 percent of the office's operating costs; the esthetician's fee sits at Plc 1002.07, and the term framework is RSA 310:8, two years from the date of issuance. The enforcement lines are the chapter's general ones at RSA 313-A:9: practicing esthetics for pay without a license is a class A misdemeanor for a natural person and a felony for any other person, a shop not at all times under the direct supervision and management of a licensee commits a misdemeanor, and so does employing or allowing an unlicensed person to practice. Two boundaries matter more to an esthetics practice than to any other trade in the chapter. The first is medical: services that cross into the practice of medicine are outside the esthetics definition no matter how the menu describes them, and the studio's device and treatment choices have to stay inside the skin care scope the definition grants. The second is microblading, which looks like an esthetics service and is not one: it is body art, governed by RSA 314-A and the certificate rules at Plc 405, and the microblading guide in this cluster covers it.
The rest of the stack belongs to the general agencies: the Secretary of State's Corporation Division for the LLC, its annual report and trade names; the Department of Revenue Administration for the two business taxes; New Hampshire Employment Security for unemployment insurance; the Department of Labor for wages and workers' compensation; and your city or town for zoning and the premises. The shop license and the local approvals run in parallel, and neither substitutes for the other.
New Hampshire esthetics at a glance
| Item | New Hampshire rule |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, with the Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics, under RSA chapter 313-A |
| Esthetician hours | 600 hours in an approved school, or 1,200 hours by apprenticeship under the board's rules |
| Scope | Skin care, applying eyelashes, and manicure and pedicure services, all inside the RSA 313-A:1 VIII definition |
| Personal license fee | $50 for two years, initial, renewal or reinstatement, under Plc 1002.07 |
| Studio license | Shop license under RSA 313-A:19, required for the premises before opening |
| Shop license fee | $100 for two years, plus a $100 inspection fee on the initial application |
| Inspections | At initial licensure and biannually after, unless the shop holds the OSHA certificate alternative in RSA 313-A:19 V |
| Microblading add-on | Available to estheticians through the Plc 405 microblading certificate, 100 hours of accredited training under the body art rules |
| Ownership | A non-practitioner may hold the shop license with a licensed practitioner employed as manager; the owner may not practice |
| Room renters | No booth license since the 2023 repeal; the renter works under the host shop's license on a personal license |
| LLC | Certificate of Formation, Form LLC-1, $100; annual report $100 due between January 1 and April 1, $50 late fee |
| Trade name | Secretary of State registration under RSA chapter 349, $50 for a five year term, renewable at $50 |
| Tax on services | None. No general sales tax on services or retail products; the Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax apply only above their filing thresholds |
| Minimum wage | $7.25 an hour, tied by RSA 279 to the federal rate |
The esthetician license, step by step
The license at RSA 313-A:13 has two doors. The school door is a course of at least 600 hours in an approved school, followed by the examination whose scope and content the board sets and which OPLC holds at least once every six months under RSA 313-A:15. The apprenticeship door is a board-approved apprenticeship substituted for the school course, stated in the board's rules at 1,200 hours, double the classroom route, as everywhere in this chapter. The statute also gives the board room to credit equivalent training held under adjacent licenses, which matters to a cosmetologist, barber or massage therapist adding esthetics rather than starting from zero. An esthetics apprentice may not take paying customers until 150 hours are complete under the board's rules, every apprentice registers with OPLC and holds the $50 apprentice certificate before training begins under RSA 313-A:24, and a shop carries one apprentice per licensed professional. An applicant eligible for the examination who has not yet passed it can work under the temporary permit at RSA 313-A:18, under a licensed practitioner's guidance in a registered shop, the permit fee credited as the examination fee and a second 60 day permit available after a failed attempt.
The license costs $50 for two years under Plc 1002.07, on initial issue, renewal or reinstatement alike. It is displayed conspicuously at the work station under RSA 313-A:17, and it renews on the two year cycle RSA 310:8 runs from its own issue date, with OPLC notifying at least two months before expiration and no practice permitted on an expired license. What the holder may do is set by the definition at RSA 313-A:1 VIII, and it is worth reading as a menu plan: the care of the skin is the core; applying eyelashes is named, which is why the esthetician license is the state's lash credential in everything but name; and manicure and pedicure services are reached expressly, which is why an esthetics studio can offer basic nail services without a manicurist on staff. Services outside the definition, chemical hair work above all, belong to the cosmetologist and master barber scopes, and permanent makeup belongs to the body art chapter entirely.
| Credential | School hours | Apprenticeship | Fee | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esthetician | 600 | 1,200 hours under board rules | $50 | Two years from issuance |
| Cosmetologist | 1,200 | 3,000 hours over 18 or more months | $50 | Two years from issuance |
| Manicurist | 300 | 600 hours under board rules | $50 | Two years from issuance |
| Registered apprentice | Registered before training begins | Per credential | $50 certification | Registered with OPLC before the first hour |
The add-on worth planning for is microblading. RSA 314-A:2 IV makes microblading of eyebrows unlawful for anyone who is neither a licensed body art practitioner nor a licensed cosmetologist or esthetician holding a microblading certificate, and the certificate rules at Plc 405 require 100 hours of training from an instructor accredited by the American Academy of Micropigmentation or the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals, a course in prevention of disease transmission and bloodborne pathogens, and two sets of eyebrows completed on a live model under the instructor's direct supervision. The certificate runs two years or to the expiry of the underlying license, whichever comes first, and renews with three hours of continuing education. An esthetics studio building a brow menu should treat the certificate as a second credential with its own clock, and the microblading guide works through both routes in full.
The shop license for your studio
The premises license is the shop license under RSA 313-A:19, and operating a shop without one is a misdemeanor. The definition at RSA 313-A:1 XIII-a covers any business location where barbering, cosmetology or esthetics is practiced, so a standalone esthetics studio files for its own: $100 for two years plus a $100 inspection fee on the initial application, under Plc 1002.07. The application names the owner and the address, the license is conspicuously posted, and a licensed practitioner who applies receives it if the premises meet the board's rules, including passing an inspection. Sanitary inspections follow at initial licensure and biannually thereafter under RSA 313-A:21 II, unless the shop holds the one-time OSHA certificate of ten or more hours in health, safety, disinfection and sanitation offered at RSA 313-A:19 V, or a board-approved equivalent; investigation inspections remain possible at any time. For a treatment-room business, the inspection substance is disinfection, linens, product storage and single-use instrument handling, and the studio that builds its closing checklist around those items treats the biannual visit as a formality.
Ownership and movement follow the chapter's standing provisions. A person who does not practice may hold the shop license under RSA 313-A:19 IV if the premises meet every requirement and a licensed cosmetologist, barber, manicurist or esthetician is employed as manager; the paragraph does not authorize the owner to practice. A change of location is a transfer of licensure under RSA 313-A:19 III, issued for the new location if it meets the requirements. The lighter format is a rented treatment room inside an existing licensed salon or spa, where the esthetician works under the host's shop license on her own personal license, the structure the booth rent section covers next.
Forming your business: the LLC
Entity filings run through the Corporation Division of the Secretary of State, online through NH QuickStart. The limited liability company is the default vehicle, and its formation document is a Certificate of Formation, Form LLC-1, not articles of organization. RSA 304-C:191 II(c) sets the filing fee at $100, flat. The company's name must contain "Limited Liability Company" or "LLC" or a similar abbreviation under RSA 304-C:32, and the filing names a registered agent with a New Hampshire address. The recurring obligation is the annual report under RSA 304-C:194: $100, filed between January 1 and April 1 each year, the first report due in the year after formation, an LLC formed between December 1 and April 1 excused from that year's report, and a $50 late filing fee under RSA 304-C:191 II(f) after April 1. File the Certificate of Formation before the shop application, because the shop filing names the owner the state already has on record.
Registering your studio name
A New Hampshire trade name is a state registration with the Secretary of State under RSA chapter 349. Section 349:5 requires anyone conducting business under a trade name, firm or style other than their own legal name to file a registration certificate; section 349:6 makes it effective on filing for a five year term; section 349:7 prices it at $50, with renewals at $50 and a $10 fee for a notice of discontinuance, addition or withdrawal; and section 349:8 has the Secretary of State forward a renewal notice at least six months before the term expires. The registration is separate from forming the LLC, whose name is fixed in the Certificate of Formation. A studio that will sign, bank and book under a different name registers that name first, so the shop application, the bank account and the storefront carry the same words.
Getting your EIN
The Employer Identification Number is the federal tax identity the rest of the stack hangs on. It is free from the IRS through the IRS online application, and no legitimate service charges for it. The studio needs the number before it registers as an employer with New Hampshire Employment Security and before payroll can run under the entity's name, and a solo esthetician renting a room needs one for her own business banking and taxes. Apply in the LLC's exact registered name, keep the confirmation letter with the entity records, and use the same spelling on every filing that follows. Because New Hampshire does not tax wages, there is no state withholding account to open alongside the federal number.
No sales tax, and the two business taxes instead
New Hampshire has no general sales tax, so the facial, the peel and the serum a client takes home all ring up with no tax added, and no city or town levies one underneath. The state's claim on the business arrives through two Department of Revenue Administration taxes. The Business Profits Tax, RSA 77-A, takes 7.5 percent of taxable business profits, with a return required only when gross business income from all activities passes the filing threshold, $103,000 for taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2023. The Business Enterprise Tax, RSA 77-E, takes 0.55 percent of the enterprise value tax base, the sum of compensation, interest and dividends the business pays, with a filing threshold of $281,000 of gross receipts or of tax base on the same vintage. Both thresholds are adjusted biennially, BET paid is a credit against BPT with unused credit carried forward ten taxable periods, and every filer also submits Form BT-SUMMARY with the return itself, Form NH-1040 for a proprietorship, NH-1065 for a partnership or NH-1120 for a corporation, due in the spring following the tax year, April 15 for calendar-year proprietorships and corporations.
Esthetics businesses split their revenue between services and retail more than most beauty formats, and the no-sales-tax rule treats both halves the same at the register. Keep them in separate point of sale categories anyway: the split is the record the business tax filings ask about as the studio grows toward the thresholds, and it costs nothing to keep from the first day.
Renting a treatment room in New Hampshire
The treatment room rental is the standard first premises for a New Hampshire esthetician, and the law makes it simple. New Hampshire repealed its booth rental license in 2023 (HB 409), so there is no renter's license to apply for: the esthetician needs her own current personal license, displayed at her station under RSA 313-A:17, and she works inside the host premises' shop license. The fee rule at Plc 1002.07 still prints a booth rental license at $75 for two years plus a $100 initial inspection fee, a surviving line that prices a license the statute no longer contains; do not pay it, and do not let a landlord charge for it.
Classification follows conduct. A renter who sets her own prices, keeps her own book and collects her own money runs her own business inside licensed premises, with her own EIN, her own trade name registration if she trades under a name, and her own position under the business tax thresholds. An esthetician whose schedule, prices and product lines the host controls is an employee, with unemployment tax and workers' compensation attached. Either way the host's duties hold: the premises stay under the direct supervision and management of a licensee, and allowing a person to practice outside her license is a misdemeanor under RSA 313-A:9, so the owner verifies each renter's license and its scope before the first client. The scope check is the esthetics-specific step: a renter offering microblading needs the Plc 405 certificate behind her esthetics or cosmetology license, and one offering lash extensions is covered, because lashes sit inside her own definition.
Hiring estheticians: wages, unemployment and workers' comp
The wage floor is the federal one. RSA 279 ties New Hampshire's minimum wage to the federal rate, and the Department of Labor's minimum wage page states the rule directly: no employer may pay less than $7.25 an hour. Overtime runs at time and one half beyond forty hours in a week, tipped employees are paid at 45 percent of the applicable minimum wage by the employer, and wages are paid weekly or every two weeks under the state's wage payment law. Commission and room-rent hybrids for employees still have to clear the floor across the hours worked.
Register with New Hampshire Employment Security when you hire your first employee, file the Employer Status Report that opens the unemployment account, and report new hires to the same agency. Unemployment tax is fully employer paid, starting at a 2.7 percent new employer rate on the first $14,000 of wages per employee under the U.S. Department of Labor's state table, experience-rated afterward, with trust fund solvency adjustments capable of lowering the effective rate. There is no state income tax on wages, so there is no state withholding to run. Workers' compensation insurance is a statutory duty for New Hampshire employers under RSA 281-A, and a registered esthetics apprentice is an employee for these purposes from the first training day.
The local layer: towns, zoning and premises
The state licenses the estheticians and the studio; your city or town decides whether an esthetics business may exist at your address. New Hampshire issues no general state business license beyond the licenses in this guide, and land use, building permits, signage and occupancy run through the municipality under its zoning ordinance and the state building and fire codes as locally enforced. A studio is a commercial use, and the parcel has to allow it before the lease is signed. The recurring local questions for this format are the quiet ones: treatment rooms inside mixed-use buildings, home-based studios, which are still shops under RSA 313-A:1 XIII-a and separately need the town's home occupation position, and plumbing or septic capacity for laundry-heavy operations outside the sewer districts. The shop license adds a state premises review with sanitary inspections at opening and biannually. Confirm zoning with the town first, because treatment tables, plumbing and signage are sunk costs by the time a local problem surfaces.
Insurance for a New Hampshire esthetics studio
No provision of chapter 313-A sets a liability insurance minimum for an esthetician or a shop, so the coverage stack is a lease and judgment question, with one statutory exception: workers' compensation, which RSA 281-A makes an employer duty. Professional liability written for esthetic services is the core purchase, because the format's claims, burns, reactions and eye-area injuries around lash work, are service claims; general liability limits are typically set by the lease, and property coverage follows the treatment tables, devices and retail stock. An esthetician adding the microblading certificate should confirm the policy reaches permanent makeup, which many esthetics policies treat as a separate risk. A room renter running her own business should carry her own professional coverage, named in the written agreement, since her clients are her business even though the premises license is the host's. This guide quotes no premium benchmarks; a broker pricing your actual menu is the only reliable source.
Renewal and filing calendar
| Item | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal license renewal, $50 | Two years from each license's issue date | OPLC notifies at least two months ahead under RSA 310:8; an expired license may not be practiced on |
| Microblading certificate renewal, if held | Two years from issuance or the underlying license's expiry, whichever is earlier | Three hours of continuing education in microblading or disease transmission prevention |
| Shop license renewal, $100 | Two years from issuance | A relocation takes a transfer of licensure filing under RSA 313-A:19 III |
| Sanitary inspections | At opening and biannually | Skipped where the shop holds the RSA 313-A:19 V OSHA certificate or equivalent |
| LLC annual report, $100 | January 1 to April 1 every year | First report due the year after formation; a $50 late fee applies after April 1 |
| Business tax returns | Spring following the tax year | Forms NH-1040, NH-1065 or NH-1120 plus Form BT-SUMMARY, only above the BPT or BET filing thresholds |
| Trade name renewal, $50 | Every five years | The Secretary of State sends a renewal notice at least six months before expiration |
The licenses run on their own two year clocks; the entity report and the tax filings run on the spring calendar underneath them.
Official sources
- Office of Professional Licensure and Certification: Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics, the board for RSA chapter 313-A
- NH Administrative Rules, Plc 1002.07: the $50 personal license, the $100 shop license and inspection fees, and the remaining $75 booth rental line
- OPLC rulemaking record for Plc 405: the microblading certificate's eligibility, training, expiry and renewal terms
- RSA 310:8: two year license terms from issuance, renewal and lapse rules for OPLC licenses
- RSA chapter 304-C: the LLC Certificate of Formation and the annual report
- New Hampshire Secretary of State: Corporation Division, NH QuickStart and trade name registration
- Department of Revenue Administration: Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax rates and filing thresholds
- Department of Labor: minimum wage under RSA 279, overtime and tipped wages
- IRS: apply for an Employer Identification Number online, free
New Hampshire esthetics FAQ
How many hours does a New Hampshire esthetician need?
A course of at least 600 hours in an approved school, plus the examination, under RSA 313-A:13. A board-approved apprenticeship may substitute for the school course, and the board's rules state the esthetics apprenticeship at 1,200 hours. The license costs $50 for two years.
Can a New Hampshire esthetician apply eyelash extensions?
Yes. The esthetics definition at RSA 313-A:1 VIII includes applying eyelashes, so lash application sits inside the esthetician license. New Hampshire has no separate lash credential, and the esthetician license is the shortest lawful route into lash work.
Can a New Hampshire esthetician do nails and microblading?
Nails, yes: the esthetics definition also reaches manicure and pedicure services. Microblading, only with an addition: an esthetician may perform microblading of eyebrows after earning the microblading certificate under the body art rules at Plc 405, which requires 100 hours of accredited training on top of the esthetics license.
What license does an esthetics studio itself need?
A shop license under RSA 313-A:19, $100 for two years plus a $100 inspection fee on the first application, with sanitary inspections at opening and biannually after unless the shop holds the OSHA certificate alternative. A person who does not practice may own the studio if a licensed cosmetologist, barber, manicurist or esthetician is employed as manager.
Are facials and skin care products taxed in New Hampshire?
No. New Hampshire has no general sales tax, so facials and other services ring up untaxed and so do retail skin care products sold at the desk. The Business Profits Tax at 7.5 percent and the Business Enterprise Tax at 0.55 percent reach the business only above their filing thresholds.