Looking for the best tax expert in Merrimack, NH?
NH Tax Advisors provides personal and small business tax services for Merrimack, NH and the towns around it, from an office a few minutes north in Bedford
Chris Brown, Enrolled Agent
You work with me directly, start to finish.
How we help Merrimack individuals and small businesses
NH Tax Advisors is led by Chris Brown, a federally licensed Enrolled Agent. Most of our Merrimack clients are W-2 households and retirees, many of them at the big employers around town like Fidelity, BAE, and Connection. We prepare the everyday return, plan the retirement and Roth years, and catch the deductions and credits that get missed. For the households that earn publicly traded stock, RSUs, ESPP shares, or options, we correct the cost basis the software gets wrong so the same income is not taxed twice.
Chris Brown, Enrolled Agent
You work with me directly, start to finish.
Why Merrimack taxpayers choose NH Tax Advisors
A Merrimack return usually has more going on than a single W-2: a spouse working across the line in Massachusetts, the first years of a pension or 401(k) withdrawals, a rental, and for some households, stock from work. We go back through your last year or two for the deductions and credits that were missed, make sure the numbers actually hold together, and tell you plainly where you stand. You reach the same person who did the return when a question comes up in the fall, not a stranger who has never seen your file.
- Licensed to represent you before the IRS
- An office a few minutes north 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
- Retirement, pension, and Roth planning, including the big employers' 401(k) and profit-sharing plans
- Stock comp done right, RSUs, ESPP, and options, with the cost basis reconciled so you are not taxed twice
“Having started a small business several years ago it was very frustrating to find out that I had not been as dialed in on taxes as I thought. Chris demonstrated professionalism and patience walking through what to do.”
How we work with Merrimack individuals and families
For most Merrimack households the return is a couple of W-2s and some retirement income, plus the ordinary things that still slip by, an education credit, a dependent care credit, withholding that was set wrong. We read the prior year or two, prepare the federal and any Massachusetts return, and look at what lowers next year, whether that is your withholding or the timing of a Roth conversion. When there is stock comp or a bonus in the picture, we reconcile the cost basis and cover the withholding gap so a good year is not a surprise in April. When the return is ready, we walk you through it in plain language.
How we work with Merrimack businesses
Plenty of Merrimack households also have a business on the side or a one-person practice. We learn how the income comes in, go back through prior returns for deductions that were missed or misclassified, and prepare your Schedule C with the mileage, home office, and equipment sorted out. We set your self-employment tax and quarterly estimates so April is not a surprise, and if the business grows to where New Hampshire's Business Profits Tax or Business Enterprise Tax applies, we tell you before the state does.
How we work with Merrimack rental property owners
If you own a rental in or around Merrimack, 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 take on the setups people ask about, a two-family, a converted apartment, or a place rented by the week. If the property sits in 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 Merrimack clients
Some people find us by searching for the best or top tax preparer in Merrimack 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.
Individual and family tax returns
The federal return and any state return that comes 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.
Retirement, Roth, and mega-backdoor
Pensions, Social Security, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, and required minimum distributions, each with its own rules. On the planning side, how much to convert to a Roth in a given year, and the mega-backdoor Roth when your employer's plan supports it.
Equity compensation and bonuses
For the households that have it: RSUs, ESPP shares, and stock options, with the cost basis reconciled to your W-2 so a sale is not taxed twice. We also handle the bonus that was withheld at a flat 22 percent and left you short, covering the gap before it becomes an April balance.
Investment income and capital gains
Brokerage 1099s with the messy cost-basis adjustments, capital gains and losses, and the loss carryforwards that get dropped when a return changes hands. We also plan which lots to sell so a big year is not more expensive than it needs to be.
Massachusetts commuter returns
For the Merrimack residents who work in Massachusetts, that state taxes only the days actually worked there, not the whole salary. We apportion the wages by day count so a commuter is not overpaying, and we do the same for stock earned over a vesting period spent partly in each state.
Self-employed and 1099 income
A Schedule C built on a real look at your costs, mileage and home office included, plus the self-employment tax that surprises everyone in their first year. We set the quarterly estimates so next April is not a scramble.
Small business and LLC taxes
Single-member LLCs and sole proprietors, including Section 179 on equipment and the 1099-NEC filings for people you pay. We watch the New Hampshire Business Profits and Enterprise Tax thresholds so they never sneak up on you.
Amended returns
A return already filed that came out wrong, whether you did it or someone else did. The one we amend most is a prior year where a stock sale's cost basis was never corrected and the tax was overpaid. We find it, amend it, and get the refund back.
IRS notices and payment plans
We read what the notice really says, tell you whether it is even correct, and answer it. A CP2000 after a stock sale usually traces back to that missing cost basis, so it is often smaller than it looks once we respond.
Back taxes and unfiled returns
One missed year or a stack of them. We work out how many you actually have to file, get them filed, and head off the substitute return the IRS will otherwise file for you. Without the lecture.
What New Hampshire taxes, and what it doesn't
New Hampshire does not tax the wages you earn, your capital gains, or your investment income, and it has no sales tax. For a town built around big employers like Fidelity, BAE, and Connection, that means a Merrimack paycheck comes home with no state tax on it, and a pension or a retirement account grows without a state tax either. If you also hold publicly traded stock from an employer, those gains carry no New Hampshire tax on top of the federal. The federal side is where the attention goes, the cost-basis reconciliation on a sale and the withholding on a bonus, and that is the part we get right.
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 Merrimack to work with us
The Bedford office (ZIP 03110) is a few minutes up the road and open by appointment whenever you would rather sit down, but most of our Merrimack clients never need to. 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 in Reeds Ferry, in South Merrimack, or right off the Everett Turnpike 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 Litchfield, Amherst, and Hollis, and over toward Bedford, Nashua, and Manchester.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a good tax preparer in Merrimack?
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. Ask whether they will still be reachable after April, since a lot of tax questions show up in the summer and fall. Ask whether they have done your kind of return before, because a couple of W-2s with a Massachusetts spouse, a first year of retirement withdrawals, and a return with vested company stock are all different work. 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.
I work at Fidelity, or another big Merrimack employer. Is there anything special I need to do with my profit-sharing or shares at tax time?
Usually not, and that surprises people. At an employer like Fidelity, the profit-sharing and the share earnings reach you as ordinary wages that are already on your W-2, so there is no separate basis to track and nothing to reconcile. You report the W-2 and you are done. That is different from the publicly traded RSUs and stock options some Merrimack residents earn from a Boston employer, where the shares also land on your W-2 when they vest but then need the cost basis corrected when you sell, or the same income gets taxed twice. So the rule of thumb is simple: if your pay is straight W-2, your return is straightforward; if it includes traded company stock, that is the piece worth getting right.
Why was only 22% withheld on my bonus when I'm in a higher bracket?
Because the IRS lets employers withhold supplemental pay like a bonus, or a stock vesting, at a flat 22 percent, and if your marginal rate is 32 or 35 percent, that 22 percent is not enough. It looks like a lot was taken out, but the shortfall shows up as a balance due in April. We figure out the gap ahead of time and cover it, either by adjusting your withholding or setting a quarterly estimate, so a good bonus year does not turn into a surprise bill.
My 1099-B shows a $0 cost basis on my vested shares. How do I keep from being taxed twice?
This is the single most common equity-comp mistake we fix. When your RSUs vested, the value of the shares already went onto your W-2 as ordinary income, so you were taxed on it once. If you then sell and the broker reports a zero cost basis, the software treats the whole sale as gain and taxes you a second time on income you already paid tax on. We adjust the basis on Form 8949 to what your W-2 already included, so you are taxed on the actual gain and nothing more.
I max out my 401(k) already. What is a mega-backdoor Roth?
It is a way to get far more into a Roth than the normal limits allow, and it only works if your employer's plan supports two things: after-tax contributions beyond the regular limit, and either in-plan Roth conversions or in-service withdrawals. Several of the big Merrimack employers' plans do. When it fits, you can move a large after-tax amount into a Roth each year on top of your regular contributions. The pro-rata rule and the timing matter, so it is worth setting up with someone who has done it before.
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
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