My New Hamphire Tax Return Form DP-2210

[jmenz9]

When I go through my New Hampshire Turbo Tax Step-by-Step Questions it states that I do not owe a penalty for the underpayment of estimated taxes. Form DP-2210 Exceptions & Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Tax only shows two quarterly payments that I made for the 3rd and 4th quarters. I did not make payments in the first two quarters. The Form is two complex for me to figure out and complete manually. The State of NH has no real detail instructions for completing it. There are exceptions to the avoiding a penalty, 90% of the prior year tax, annualizing income, etc.

The next Question states:

“Do you want to include Form DP-2210 with the tax return even though you do not owe a penalty?

The reason why you may want to include this form even though no penalty is due, would be to show the Department of Revenue that no penalty is due after this form has been calculated.”

How do I know that I don't owe a tax penalty or whether I met an exception. The Form is not complete.

[BillM223]

Can you see the DP-2210?

"How do I know that I don't owe a tax penalty?" Are there any numbers on line 21 in Part III? If not, then you don't owe a penalty.

"whether I met an exception?" You have an exception in any quarter in Part II where the number in lines 11, 13, or 15 is greater than the number in line 9 in the same column. Note that the exceptions don't all have to be in the same column. 

I imagine that the state is going to run the calculations on the underpayment process when they get your return, so if they see that you meet the exceptions, they will think twice about dashing off a letter to you demanding penalty and interest.

[jmenz9]

Thanks for your help. I reviewed all of the possible exceptions, and I believe that I do not meet any of them. I answered no (none apply) to the question covering exceptions, and the a small penalty was calculated. The estimated payments that I made in the 3rd and 4th quarters were more than double the amount of my total 2023 tax.

[DMarkM1]

Yes.  However, your estimated tax payments needed to be timely as each installment period is treated separately as a tax due for that period.  Below are extracts from the form 2210 instructions. 

"In general, you may owe the penalty for 2023 if the total of your withholding and timely estimated tax payments didn't equal at least the smaller of: 1. 90% of your 2023 tax, or 2. 100% of your 2022 tax. Your 2022 tax return must cover a 12-month period.

Higher income taxpayers. If your adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2022 was more than $150,000 ($75,000 if your 2022 filing status was married filing separately), substitute 110% for 100% in (2) above."

"Penalty figured separately for each required payment. 

The penalty is figured separately for each installment due date. Therefore, you may owe the penalty for an earlier due date even if you paid enough tax later to make up the underpayment. This is true even if you’re due a refund when you file your tax return. However, you may be able to reduce or eliminate the penalty by using the annualized income installment method. "