What Changed (Jan 2026)
The biggest change to NFA transfers in decades took effect on 1 January 2026: the making and transfer tax on most commonly transferred NFA items dropped from $200 to $0. This page is what that actually means behind a dealer counter.
What went to $0
- Suppressors
- Short-barrelled rifles
- Short-barrelled shotguns
- Any Other Weapon
What did not
- Machine guns — still $200
- Destructive devices — still $200
What stayed exactly the same
This is the part worth repeating to every customer who walks in believing suppressors are now over the counter. The tax went away. The process did not.
- The form is still filed and still has to be approved before transfer
- Fingerprints are still taken
- Passport-style photographs are still required
- The background check still happens
- State law still governs whether the item is legal where the customer lives
- The firearm is still registered, and you still retain the paperwork
ATF is revising Form 1, Form 4 and Form 5 to remove the tax-payment sections. Make sure you are filing the current version rather than a stored PDF from last year.
The operational consequence
Removing a $200 barrier from the most popular NFA categories does one predictable thing to volume. More applications in the queue means longer approval times, and the dealer holding the item is the one answering for the wait.
Practically, that means three things are worth having in place before the volume arrives: a record of which customer is waiting on which form, a way to answer “where is mine” without opening a filing cabinet, and secure storage for items sitting on approved Form 3s with no Form 4 yet. That is what NFA-BRO is for.
We also cover the stamp-tracking side of a volume surge in tax stamp tracking for dealers.
More
Status as of 10 September 2026. Not legal advice — confirm current requirements with the ATF.