Hawaii Sales Tax

Hawaii Sales Tax Guide (2026)

Hawaii has no sales tax. It levies General Excise Tax on the seller’s gross income, and because GET reaches services, rents and commissions it is broader than any sales tax in the country.[1]

5 min read • Reviewed by Tax Advisory Team • Verified • Sources: HI DOTAX & HRS
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Quick Facts

Sales Tax at a Glance

State GET rate
4% [1]
With county surcharge
4.5% [2]
Max visible pass-on
4.712% on Oahu [3]
Wholesale rate
0.5% [1]
County surcharge
0.5%, all four counties [2]
Surcharge sunset
Dec 31, 2030 [2]
Economic nexus
$100k or 200 sales [4]
Tax falls on
The seller [1]
Lodging tax
11% state, from 1/1/26 [5]
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GET is charged on the seller’s gross income, not on the buyer

This is why Hawaii businesses may visibly pass on 4.712% rather than 4.5%. The pass-on amount is itself gross income, so it is taxed too.[3] GET differs from sales tax in ways that matter:

Reaches services Reaches rents Reaches commissions Reaches interest Taxes each stage of supply Wholesale gets 0.5%
The arithmetic behind 4.712%: it is 4.5% divided by (1 minus 0.045). Charging exactly 4.5% leaves the business short, because the surcharge it collects becomes taxable income in its own right.[3]
Estimate

Hawaii GET calculator

Hawaii · state GET 4%
Presets are verified. Wholesale transactions use the 0.5% rate.
Rate applied–
Estimated Hawaii GET–
Total with tax–

Estimate only. GET is owed by the business on gross income whether or not it is passed on to the customer.[1] Talk to CrownGlobe for a specific case.

Rates & Registration

Hawaii Sales Tax Rates, Nexus & the pass-on rate

GET rate components

State GET, retail4%
County surcharge0.5%
Combined, Oahu4.5%
Maximum visible pass-on4.712%
Wholesale rate0.5%

All four counties now levy the maximum 0.5% surcharge, with Maui the last to adopt it in 2024. The surcharges sunset on December 31, 2030 unless extended.[2]

Who must register

Either trigger applies: economic nexus ($100,000 of Hawaii gross income or 200 separate transactions in the current or prior year), or any physical presence in the islands.[4]

GET stacks through the supply chain: unlike a sales tax with a resale exemption, wholesale transactions are taxed at 0.5% rather than exempted, so tax applies at more than one stage.[1]

Compliance

Sales Tax Registration and Filing

A GET licence is required before you begin business in Hawaii.

How to register

  • Confirm nexus→
  • Form BB-1→
  • Pay licence fee→
  • Get GET number→
  • File via Hawaii Tax Online

The one-time licence fee is $20 and the licence does not expire, though it must be cancelled if the business closes.[6]

Filing & due dates

FrequencyAnnual GET liabilityDue
MonthlyOver $4,00020th of next month
Quarterly$2,000–$4,00020th after quarter
Semiannual$2,000 or less20th after period

An annual reconciliation on Form G-49 is due by the 20th day of the fourth month after year end, in addition to periodic returns.[6]

Pricing

Sales Tax & Nexus Pricing

Multi Tax Filing – $50 Per State/Month

ServiceWhat’s Included
Multi-state registrationNexus tracking, permit setup, and state agency coordination.
Monthly filingSales tax returns filed in every registered state.
Exemption & audit supportCertificate handling and notice response.
Get Started with Multi-State Filing
Taxability

Taxable vs. exempt

GET reaches almost every business activity in Hawaii, which is why the exemption list is short compared with mainland sales taxes.[1]

Generally subject to GET

  • Retail sales of goodsHRS 237-13
  • Professional & personal servicesHRS 237-13
  • Commercial & residential rentsHRS 237-13
  • CommissionsHRS 237-13
  • ContractingHRS 237-13
  • Interest incomeHRS 237-3

Generally exempt

  • Sales to the federal governmentHRS 237-25
  • Prescription drugs & prostheticsHRS 237-24
  • Qualifying nonprofit activityHRS 237-23
  • Certain insurance proceedsHRS 237-24
  • Out-of-state salesHRS 237-29.5
  • Wholesale, taxed at 0.5% insteadHRS 237-4
Worth flagging: GET applies to rent, including residential rent, which surprises mainland landlords. It also applies to a business’s interest income, neither of which a conventional sales tax would touch.[1]
Reference

Glossary of key terms

General Excise Tax
Hawaii’s tax on a business’s gross income, levied instead of a sales tax.
Gross income
Total business receipts before expenses, which forms the GET base.
County surcharge
A 0.5% add-on now levied by all four Hawaii counties, sunsetting at the end of 2030.
Pass-on rate
The 4.712% maximum a business may visibly add on Oahu, since the add-on is itself taxed.
Wholesale rate
The reduced 0.5% GET rate for sales to a licensed reseller.
Transient Accommodations Tax
A separate tax on short-term lodging, charged on top of GET.
FAQ

Sales Tax FAQs

No. Hawaii levies General Excise Tax on a business’s gross income instead. It is broader than a sales tax because it reaches services, rents, commissions and interest.

Because the amount a business passes on is itself gross income and therefore taxable. 4.712% is 4.5% divided by one minus 0.045, and it is the maximum that may be visibly passed on for Oahu.

4% at state level, plus a 0.5% county surcharge now levied by all four counties, giving 4.5%. Wholesale transactions are taxed at a reduced 0.5%.

Yes. Both commercial and residential rent are subject to General Excise Tax, which often catches out landlords used to mainland sales tax rules.

$100,000 of Hawaii gross income or 200 separate transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Either test triggers registration.

GET applies to almost all business income, so receipts from software and services delivered to Hawaii customers generally fall within the base if you have nexus.

Verification

Sources & methodology

  1. HI DOTAX – General Excise Tax
  2. HI DOTAX – County Surcharge
  3. HI DOTAX – GET Rate Schedule (PDF)
  4. HRS – Section 237-2.5 Economic Nexus
  5. HI DOTAX – Transient Accommodations Tax
  6. HI DOTAX – Tax Licences & Filing
  7. HRS – Chapter 237 General Excise Tax
  8. HRS – Section 237-13 Imposition & Rates
  9. HRS – Section 237-4 Wholesaler Defined
  10. HI DOTAX – Marketplace Facilitators
  11. HRS – Section 237-24 Amounts Not Taxable
  12. HI DOTAX – Forms & Publications
  13. HI DOTAX – Hawaii Tax Online
  14. HI DOTAX – Announcements
Methodology: Every figure is checked against the Hawaii Department of Taxation or the Hawaii Revised Statutes directly, never copied from a third-party guide. County surcharges are scheduled to sunset at the end of 2030, so this page is reviewed annually.
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