Looking for the best tax expert in Salem, NH?
NH Tax Advisors provides personal and small business tax services for Salem, NH and the towns around it, the first stop over the line for Boston-area commuters
Chris Brown, Enrolled Agent
You work with me directly, start to finish.
How we help Salem individuals and small businesses
NH Tax Advisors is led by Chris Brown, a federally licensed Enrolled Agent. Salem sits right at the top of I-93, the first New Hampshire town for a lot of Boston-area commuters, so the Massachusetts nonresident return is the one we prepare most here. We make sure Massachusetts is only taxing the days you actually worked there, prepare individual, family, self-employed, and small business returns, and get people caught up when they have fallen behind on filing.
Chris Brown, Enrolled Agent
You work with me directly, start to finish.
Why Salem taxpayers choose NH Tax Advisors
The Massachusetts withholding trap catches a lot of Salem commuters, and almost nobody fixes it on their own. Your employer takes Massachusetts tax out of every paycheck, but Massachusetts only gets to tax the days you were physically in the state. Work a day or two a week from home in Salem and those days belong to New Hampshire, so the tax withheld on them is yours to get back. We recover it by apportioning your wages to your real day count, read the prior year or two for anything else that was missed, and stay reachable when a question comes up after the season.
- Licensed to represent you before the IRS
- An office up I-93 in Bedford, in person or by video
- Accurate returns, updated for the 2026 tax law and every year after
- Back taxes and IRS notices, resolved quietly and without judgment
- Massachusetts commuter returns, with over-withheld tax recovered by your real day count
- Retirement and Roth planning for Salem's many longtime and retired residents
“He was professional, cordial, and efficient. I'm extremely glad I found NH Tax Advisors and chose to work with them.”
How we work with Salem individuals and families
For most Salem households the return starts with the Massachusetts side. We check whether last year's wages were apportioned to your actual in-state days or simply taxed in full, prepare this year's federal and Massachusetts returns, and set your withholding so you are not lending Massachusetts money for a year to get it back later. If you are retired or getting close, we look at the timing of withdrawals and a Roth conversion while your income is lower. When the return is ready we go through it with you in plain language.
How we work with Salem businesses
Salem has a deep bench of small businesses, from the shops and restaurants around Tuscan Village and Rockingham Park to the trades and one-person operations all over town. We learn how the money comes in, review your prior returns for expenses that were missed or misclassified, and prepare your Schedule C with the vehicle, home office, and equipment deductions in order. We set your self-employment tax and quarterly estimates so April is not a shock, and if you cross into New Hampshire's Business Profits Tax or Business Enterprise Tax, we tell you before the state does.
How we work with Salem rental property owners
If you own a rental in or around Salem, we report the income and expenses on Schedule E and set the depreciation up right, which is the piece most often missed. We keep repairs apart from improvements, carry the passive losses forward so they are there when you can use them, and handle the setups people ask about, a two-family, a converted apartment, or a place rented short-term. If the property sits in Massachusetts or another state, we file there too and keep the credit straight so the same income is not taxed twice. And when we take over a return where depreciation was skipped, correcting it can put money back in your pocket.
What we handle for Salem clients
Some people find us by searching for the best or top tax preparer in Salem or the nearest accountant; others just want one specific problem resolved and do not much care about the title. A few are sent by a bookkeeper, which makes sense, since keeping the books and filing the return are two different jobs. Here is the work we do, and who each part is for.
Massachusetts commuter returns
The return Salem needs most. Massachusetts taxes the days you actually worked in the state, not your whole salary, so a commuter who works any days from home is usually owed back the tax the employer withheld on them. We apportion the wages by day count and file it so the money comes to you.
Individual and family tax returns
Your federal return and the state returns that come with it, prepared and then explained before you sign. Most of our clients are back every year, so the history behind the numbers is already on file with us.
Self-employed and 1099 income
A Schedule C built on a genuine look at your costs, mileage and home office included, plus the self-employment tax that catches people their first year on their own. We set the quarterly estimates so next April is not a scramble.
Small business and LLC taxes
Single-member LLCs and sole proprietors, and the S-corporation election once your profit is high enough to make it worth the payroll. We watch the New Hampshire Business Profits and Enterprise Tax thresholds so they never sneak up on you.
Retirement income and Roth conversions
Pensions, Social Security, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, and required minimum distributions, each with its own rules. We set the withholding so April is calm and map how much to convert to a Roth before it costs you a bracket or a Medicare surcharge.
Back taxes and unfiled returns
One missed year or a stack of them, often an old Massachusetts year a commuter never realized they owed. We work out what has to be filed, file it, and head off the substitute return the IRS will otherwise file for you. Without the lecture.
IRS notices and payment plans
We read what the notice really says, tell you whether it is even correct, and answer it. If the balance is more than you can pay at once, we set up an installment agreement or check whether First Time Abatement can take the penalties off.
Investment income and capital gains
Brokerage 1099s with the cost-basis adjustments that trip up the software, capital gains and losses, and the carryforwards that get dropped when a return changes hands. If you sold company stock, we reconcile the basis so you are not taxed twice on it.
Rental property
Schedule E income and expenses, depreciation set up right, and repairs kept separate from improvements. Passive losses get tracked so they are there when you need them, and a rental where depreciation was missed early is usually worth fixing.
Amended returns
A return already filed that came out wrong, whether you did it yourself or someone else did. We find what was missed, amend it, and go after the refund if one is owed.
What New Hampshire taxes, and what it doesn't
New Hampshire does not tax the wages you earn and has no sales tax, so your Salem paycheck carries no state return the way it would in most other states. That is the whole reason the Massachusetts return matters here: Salem is right on the border and up the interstate from Boston, so for most working households the only state income tax in the picture is the Massachusetts one, on the days worked south of the line.
One older detail matters only if you are cleaning up past returns. New Hampshire used to tax interest and dividends on the DP-10, and that tax was repealed starting with 2025. It still applied through 2024, so a back-year filing or an amended 2024 return may carry a little New Hampshire tax on investment income. From 2025 forward, the form is gone.
You don't have to be in Salem to work with us
The office is up I-93 in Bedford (ZIP 03110), open by appointment whenever you would rather sit down, but most of our Salem clients never make the drive. Your documents come to us through a secure portal instead of loose email, we go through the finished return with you by phone or video, and you sign electronically. Someone near Tuscan Village in 03079, out by Canobie Lake, or up toward the Windham line gets the same attention, and the same care with their information, as a client sitting across the desk. We work the same way with clients in Windham, Pelham, Atkinson, Hampstead, Plaistow, and Derry, and up toward Manchester.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a good tax preparer in Salem?
Start with the credential. An Enrolled Agent or a CPA can represent you before the IRS; a preparer without one has limited standing the day a notice arrives. In Salem, ask whether they really know the Massachusetts nonresident return, because most working households here have a Boston-area paycheck and the day-count apportionment is easy to get wrong or skip. Ask whether you can reach them after April, since plenty of questions land in the summer and fall. And be wary of anyone who sets the fee as a share of your refund or promises a bigger refund than the next person before seeing a single document.
How many days do I have to work in Massachusetts before I owe tax there, and how do I count them?
There is no minimum. Massachusetts taxes a nonresident on the income earned for the days actually worked in the state, so even a few days count, and so does the rest of your work year. The way it is figured is a ratio: days worked in Massachusetts over your total workdays, applied to your wages. Days you worked from home in Salem, plus normal time off, come out of the Massachusetts side. Getting that count right, with a real record behind it, is what separates an apportioned return from one that just taxes your whole salary.
I moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire mid-year. What do I file for Massachusetts?
For the year of the move you file a Massachusetts part-year return, which taxes you as a resident for the months you lived there and as a nonresident on any Massachusetts work income after you crossed the line. The date you actually established your New Hampshire home is what splits the year, so it matters that it is documented. We sort out the part-year and nonresident pieces so the income is counted once, in the right state, for the right part of the year.
New Hampshire has no income tax, so why do I have to file anything?
New Hampshire not taxing your wages is only half the picture. If you work in Massachusetts, that state still taxes the income you earn there, so you have a Massachusetts nonresident return to file even though your home state asks for nothing. You also still file a federal return like everyone else. So a Salem commuter usually has two returns, federal and Massachusetts, and the New Hampshire part is simply that there is no state return on your paycheck.
What's better for my taxes, an LLC or staying a sole proprietor?
For most one-person businesses, an LLC by itself changes your legal protection, not your taxes: a single-member LLC is still taxed as a sole proprietor on a Schedule C. What actually changes the tax is an S-corporation election, which can lower self-employment tax once your profit is high enough to justify the extra payroll and filing cost. Below that point it usually is not worth it. We run your real numbers before you set anything up, so the structure is chosen for a reason, not because someone said an LLC saves tax.
What clients say
Real reviews from real Southern NH clients
“I truly cannot say enough good things about my experience with Chris & Maria at NH Tax Advisors! I came to them with a rather daunting & messy self-employed tax situation, needing resolution for some previous years' filings.”
“We had an unexpected situation this tax season when our original accountant suddenly became ill and had to retire. My husband and I were scrambling to find someone new, especially so close to the deadline.”
“I had a great experience working with Chris Brown. He was incredibly easy to work with and always very reachable. He would respond within minutes or at most a few hours whenever I had a question.”
Talk to your tax professional today
Call to talk through your tax situation with a licensed tax pro who’ll remember you next year.