The $200 tax stamp is now $0
What H.R.1 actually changed on 1 January 2026 — and the four things people assume changed with it, which did not.
What changed.
H.R.1 was signed on 4 July 2025 and took effect on 1 January 2026. It reduced the National Firearms Act transfer and making tax from $200 to $0 on four categories: suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and Any Other Weapon. For the first time since 1934, the tax is not part of the decision.
What did not change.
Everything else. You still file a Form 4 to transfer or a Form 1 to build. You still submit fingerprints and a photograph. You still pass an ATF background check. You still wait for approval before you can possess the item. The National Firearms Registry still exists and the item is still registered to you. The process is identical — the fee line is just zero.
Machine guns and destructive devices are still $200.
The reduction is specific to those four categories. If you are transferring a registered machine gun or a destructive device, the $200 tax applies exactly as it did before.
What it means in practice.
The economics of a second stamp collapsed. Buying a dedicated .22 can instead of running a multi-caliber, building an SBR instead of pinning a brace, registering the host and the can separately — all of those used to carry a $200 penalty each and now carry none. The only remaining costs are the hardware and the wait.
A note on what comes next.
There is active litigation seeking broader NFA repeal, and there are proposals to remove suppressors from the Act entirely. None of that is law. Buy under the rules that exist today, which are the ones described above.
Common questions
Is the tax stamp really free now?
Yes, for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs, on applications from 1 January 2026. The $200 tax remains on machine guns and destructive devices.
Do I still need fingerprints?
Yes. The tax changed; the application did not. Two FD-258 cards and a passport photo are still required, and we take both in store.
Is the wait shorter now that it is free?
The tax and the wait are separate things. Electronic filing has cut approval times dramatically compared with paper, but the wait moves and no dealer can promise you a date.
I filed before January 2026 and paid $200. Do I get it back?
That is a question for the ATF rather than for us, and the answer has depended on when the application was submitted. Call us and we will tell you what we are seeing on current applications.