As of January 1, 2026, the cost of the National Firearms Act (NFA) tax stamp has officially dropped to $0, ending a federal fee that has been in place for over 90 years. This change comes as a result of new regulatory rules finalized in 2025 and marks a significant shift in the way suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), and other NFA-regulated items are processed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Previously, applicants were required to pay a $200 tax for the transfer or making of NFA items — a fee established by the original NFA in 1934 and never adjusted for inflation. Now, under updated regulations that took effect today, that fee has been eliminated entirely for both Form 1 (individual manufacture) and Form 4 (transfer) applications.
The rule change, which was first proposed in late 2024 and finalized in 2025, is part of a broader modernization of the NFA system. It also aligns with the ongoing push to streamline Form 4 processing times, which have been gradually improving since the introduction of eForms and digital fingerprint submission systems.
Despite the removal of the fee, all NFA rules, background checks, and registration procedures remain in place. Applicants must still go through the full ATF vetting process, including fingerprinting and approval, which can take several months. However, the financial barrier to entry has now been removed, potentially opening the door to wider ownership of suppressors and other NFA-regulated firearms and accessories.
Gun rights advocates view the elimination of the NFA tax stamp as a welcome but incomplete victory in the ongoing effort to abolish onerous federal restrictions on lawful firearm ownership. The original $200 tax stamp was imposed in 1934 as part of the National Firearms Act, a law conceived in the wake of Prohibition‑era crime that treated suppressors, short‑barreled rifles (SBRs), and similar devices as inherently dangerous and subject to punitive taxation and regulation. That financial barrier endured for over 90 years despite never being adjusted for inflation and long being seen by many civil‑rights proponents as an unconstitutional burden on the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
By reducing the tax stamp to $0, Congress has lifted this historic financial hurdle, aligning federal law more closely with modern perspectives on suppressors and other NFA items as tools used safely by millions of lawful owners for hunting, hearing protection, and sporting purposes.
However, the fight is far from over. The Second Amendment Foundation and allied organizations have filed federal lawsuits arguing that once the tax is gone, there is no constitutional basis for retaining the NFA’s registration requirements for those same items, because Congress’s taxing power formed the original justification for imposing such regulations. They contend that the remaining registration and approval processes now serve only to burden lawful gun owners, reinforcing the case for full abolition of the NFA’s most restrictive elements.
In this sense, eliminating the tax stamp is not the end goal but a strategic milestone on the road toward dismantling outdated federal controls that continue to impede lawful firearm ownership.
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