Why do Hawaii businesses charge 4.712% instead of 4.5%?

Because GET is charged on a business's gross income, including any tax it collects from the customer. If a shop adds 4.5% to a $100 sale, it receives $104.50 and owes 4.5% of that, or $4.70, leaving it short. Adding 4.712% ($4.71) covers the tax on the tax. The Department of Taxation sets that figure as the maximum a business may pass on.

Do I need a GET license in Hawaii?

Yes, anyone doing business in Hawaii needs one, including freelancers, landlords, online sellers with Hawaii nexus and people working a one-time event. You register on Form BB-1 through Hawaii Tax Online and pay a one-time $20 fee. Online applications get a Hawaii Tax ID in about five to seven business days; applying in person at a district office gets it the same day.

What is the wholesale GET rate in Hawaii?

Wholesaling, manufacturing, producing and wholesale services are taxed at 0.5%, and the county surcharge doesn't apply to them. A sale counts as wholesale when you sell goods to a licensed buyer who resells them, or provide a service to a business that resells it. Insurance commissions have their own rate of 0.15%.

When are Hawaii GET returns due?

Periodic returns on Form G-45 are due on the 20th day of the month after each monthly, quarterly or semiannual period. You file semiannually if your yearly GET is $2,000 a year or less, quarterly up to $4,000, and monthly above $4,000 a year. The annual reconciliation, Form G-49, is due on the 20th day of the fourth month after your year ends, April 20 for calendar-year filers.

Do out-of-state sellers owe Hawaii GET?

Yes, once they have nexus. Hawaii treats a seller as doing business in the state if it has $100,000 or 200 transactions into Hawaii in the current or preceding calendar year, even with no physical presence. Since January 1, 2020, marketplace facilitators such as large online platforms are treated as the retailer for sales they handle, and pay GET on those sales.

Are groceries and medical services taxed in Hawaii?

Groceries are: Hawaii has no general food exemption, though receipts paid with SNAP benefits or WIC vouchers can be deducted. Medical care is mostly taxable too, but since January 1, 2026, Act 47 of 2024 exempts amounts that hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, physicians, dentists, advanced practice nurses and pharmacists receive for care covered by Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE, including the patient's copay.

Sales tax

Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET) in 2026: Rates, the 4.712% Pass-On, License and Filing

Hawaii general excise tax 2026: why GET isn't a sales tax, the 4% state rate plus 0.5% county surcharge, the 4.712% pass-on rate, $20 license and filing.

Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources

Updated October 2026 Verified against official sources 11 October 2026 20 min read

Hawaii general excise tax — MSMETOOLS guide cover

Contents (11)

1. GET is not a sales tax, and the difference matters
2. Hawaii GET rates in 2026
3. The 4.712% pass-on rate, explained
4. Wholesale, manufacturing and the "pyramiding" question
5. Worked examples in dollars
6. Getting a Hawaii GET license
7. Filing Forms G-45 and G-49
8. Remote sellers, use tax and nexus
9. What changed in 2025 and 2026
10. Common mistakes and how to fix them
11. What to do next

Hawaii is the one state where asking "what's the sales tax?" gets you a technically wrong answer. There is no sales tax. Instead, the state charges a general excise tax (GET) on the business itself, on almost every dollar of business income, from a T-shirt sold in Waikiki to a consultant's invoice in Hilo. This guide is for shop owners, contractors, landlords, freelancers and online sellers who need the 2026 rules: the rates, why receipts show 4.712%, the wholesale rate, how to get a GET license, and how to file. Every figure was checked against the Hawaii Department of Taxation (DOTAX) in October 2026.

Quick answer

Hawaii's general excise tax is 4% on retail sales, services, rentals and most other business income, plus a 0.5% county surcharge in all four counties, for 4.5%. It's a tax on the business, not the buyer. A business may pass it on to customers at up to 4.712%, which is why receipts don't show 4.5%.

Wholesaling, manufacturing and producing pay 0.5%, with no county surcharge
A GET license costs a one-time $20 on Form BB-1
Returns (Form G-45) are due the 20th after each period, plus an annual Form G-49
Remote sellers owe GET after $100,000 or 200 transactions in a year
Services, groceries and sales to nonprofits are generally taxable

GET is not a sales tax, and the difference matters

DOTAX's own Tax Facts 37-1 opens with the question "Is the GET a sales tax?" and answers no, for two reasons. A sales tax is a tax on the customer that the seller collects and hands over. The GET is a tax on the business for the privilege of doing business in Hawaii. And while a sales tax usually covers retail sales of goods plus a short list of services, the GET reaches almost every kind of business income: retail sales, wholesale sales, services, construction contracting, renting out real or personal property, commissions, business interest income and royalties.

That legal structure changes how you run your books. You owe GET on your gross income whether or not you charge your customers anything for it. A business that quotes prices "tax included" or simply never mentions the tax still pays the same 4.5% on its receipts. "Gross income" here means total business income before expenses, so the cost of goods, rent and wages are not deducted on the GET return. That's what makes the tax so broad, and why a 4.5% rate raises more money than its size suggests.

Three consequences surprise people moving from mainland states. First, there are no exemption certificates for nonprofits, churches, schools or government agencies. Sales to them are generally taxable, because the tax falls on the seller. There are narrow deductions for goods sold directly to the federal government or to credit unions, but otherwise a nonprofit buyer pays the same as anyone. Second, tourists don't get a break. DOTAX doesn't issue exemption certificates to nonresidents; only goods the seller ships directly to an out-of-state address escape the tax. Third, professional services are taxable. Lawyers, accountants, designers, IT consultants and hair stylists all pay GET on their fees.

Hawaii also has a separate income tax, so a profitable business pays both. You can deduct GET as a business expense on your income tax return, but you can't use it as a credit against income tax.

Hawaii GET at a glance (2026)

State GET rate

Retail, services, rentals, contracting

4.5%

With county surcharge

All four counties

4.712%

Maximum pass-on rate

What receipts show

0.5%

Wholesale and manufacturing rate

$20

GET license, one-time fee

Hawaii GET rates in 2026

Hawaii has three state GET rates. Most activity falls under the 4% rate: selling goods or services at retail, renting or leasing property, construction contracting, theaters and amusements, business interest and commissions other than insurance. Wholesaling, manufacturing, producing (farming and fishing, for example) and wholesale services pay 0.5%. Insurance commissions pay 0.15%.

The county surcharge sits on top of the 4% rate only. Each of Hawaii's four counties has adopted the maximum 0.5% surcharge allowed by the Legislature, and all four are scheduled to run through December 31, 2030. The City and County of Honolulu has charged it since January 1, 2007; Kauai since January 1, 2019; Hawaii County at 0.25% in 2019 and 0.5% from January 1, 2020; and Maui County since January 1, 2024. That means the combined retail rate is now the same 4.5% everywhere in the state, and businesses no longer need to worry about a lower rate on any island. The surcharge doesn't apply to activities taxed at 0.5% or 0.15%.

The surcharge is still reported by taxation district. Businesses that earn income in more than one county attach Form G-75 to their G-45 and G-49 returns and allocate gross income to each district under DOTAX's sourcing rules. Skipping Form G-75 counts as failing to file, with a penalty of 10% of the tax and surcharge due on top.

Activity	State rate	County surcharge	Total
Retail sale of goods	4%	0.5%	4.5%
Services to a final customer (repair, consulting, salon)	4%	0.5%	4.5%
Renting a house, office or equipment	4%	0.5%	4.5%
Construction contracting	4%	0.5%	4.5%
Wholesale sale of goods to a reseller	0.5%	None	0.5%
Manufacturing or producing	0.5%	None	0.5%
Insurance commissions	0.15%	None	0.15%

Hotels and vacation rentals pay GET on room income plus the separate transient accommodations tax (TAT), which has its own state rate and county add-on. That's outside this guide, but note one interaction from Tax Facts 37-1: GET that a host visibly passes on to a guest can be excluded from the gross rental income subject to TAT.

The 4.712% pass-on rate, explained

A business may visibly pass the GET on to its customers, and most retailers do. The catch is that any GET you collect becomes part of your gross income, and that income is taxed too. If you add exactly 4.5% to a $100 sale, you collect $104.50 and owe 4.5% of $104.50, or $4.70, so you come up a cent short on every $100. Scale that up and it adds up.

DOTAX solves this by publishing a maximum pass-on rate. For every county, it's 4.712% through December 31, 2030. The figure is 4.5% divided by 95.5%: on a $100 sale you may charge $4.71, collect $104.71, and owe 4.5% of $104.71, which is $4.71. Tax Facts 37-1 uses exactly this example.

Two rules come with passing the tax on. Consumer protection law forbids charging more GET than the business will actually pay on the sale, so 4.712% is a ceiling, and the Office of Consumer Protection acts against businesses that exceed it. And customers must know about the charge and agree to it before the sale. DOTAX suggests quoting in one of three ways: "$100 plus 4.712% GET," "$100 plus $4.71 GET," or "$104.71 total." What you may not do is advertise "no tax." Section 237-49 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes forbids a business that owes GET from claiming there's no tax, with fines up to $1,000.

Some sellers can't pass it on at all. Insurers and their agents may not add GET to premiums, and businesses whose prices are capped by law, such as towing companies, can't push the total above the legal maximum by adding GET.

Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, Honolulu, lined with trees, shops and hotels — Every Waikiki shop pays 4% state GET plus Honolulu's 0.5% surcharge on its retail income, whether or not it shows the tax on receipts.· Image: Simon_sees (CC BY 2.0)

Wholesale, manufacturing and the "pyramiding" question

Because GET applies at every stage of a sale, not just the final one, the same item can be taxed several times on its way to a customer. Economists call this pyramiding. Hawaii limits it with the low 0.5% wholesale rate. A distributor that sells goods to a licensed retailer for resale pays 0.5% on that sale; the retailer then pays 4.5% when it sells to the public. DOTAX's position is that this isn't double taxation, because there are two separate transactions, each taxed once.

The wholesale rate also covers wholesale services: a service sold to a business that resells it, such as a subcontracted service the buyer bills on to its own client. Manufacturers and producers, including farmers, fishers and food processors, pay 0.5% on what they make. But if a producer sells directly to the public, for example at a farmers market stall, those sales are retail and taxed at 4.5%. To use the wholesale rate, keep evidence that your buyer is licensed and reselling; Hawaii uses resale certificates for this, and DOTAX may disallow the lower rate if you can't show the sale was really for resale.

Construction has its own relief. A general contractor can deduct payments to licensed subcontractors for contracting work, so the same dollars aren't taxed at full rate twice. The subcontractor pays GET on its own receipts, and the general contractor pays on the rest.

Online marketplaces follow a special rule. Under Act 2 of 2019, effective January 1, 2020, a marketplace facilitator is treated as the retailer of everything sold through its platform and pays GET at 4.5% on those retail sales. The marketplace seller's sales through the platform are treated as wholesale sales to the facilitator, taxed at 0.5%. Sellers often miss that second step and report nothing. The wholesale rate only applies where the law specifically allows it, and DOTAX's guidance says it isn't available for sales of intangible property, such as digital licenses, whether or not a marketplace is involved.

Yellow and green passion fruit for sale at the Kula farmers market on Maui — A farmer selling fruit to a retailer for resale pays the 0.5% wholesale rate; selling the same fruit to shoppers at a market stall is retail at 4.5%.· Image: Alden.Cornell.Molokai.Hawaii (CC BY 2.0)

Worked examples in dollars

A Honolulu gift shop. A shop sells $20,000 of goods in a month and adds the 4.712% pass-on to every sale, collecting $942.40 from customers. Its gross income is $20,942.40, and GET at 4.5% is $942.41, so the pass-on covers the tax almost exactly. A shop on the same street that prices "tax included" and takes in the same $20,942.40 owes the same $942.41 out of its margin.

A consultant on Maui. A marketing consultant bills a Kahului client $8,000 for a month's work and adds 4.712%, or $376.96. The invoice totals $8,376.96, and the GET due is 4.5% of that, $376.96. In a mainland state that doesn't tax services, the same invoice would carry no tax at all.

A wholesaler. A Kauai food distributor sells $50,000 of packaged goods to licensed grocery stores that resell them. GET is 0.5% of $50,000, or $250, with no county surcharge. If it also sold $5,000 of cleaning supplies to hotels that use them up rather than resell them, those hotels are consumers, so the $5,000 is retail and costs $225.

A general contractor. A Big Island contractor receives $200,000 for a home addition and pays $80,000 of it to a licensed electrical subcontractor. The contractor deducts the subcontract payment and owes 4.5% of $120,000, or $5,400. The electrician owes its own GET on its $80,000.

A landlord. A rented condo in Honolulu brings in $3,000 a month. Long-term residential rent is subject to GET at 4.5%, so the owner owes $135 a month, or $1,620 a year, before any pass-on agreed in the lease.

Try it — Hawaii GET pass-on on a $100 sale

Purchase AmountState

Local / County Rate

Purchase Amount$100.00

State Tax (6.25%)$6.25

Local Tax (2%)$2.00

Combined Rate8.25%

Total Amount (Including Tax)$108.25

Open the full Sales Tax Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Getting a Hawaii GET license

Anyone doing business in Hawaii needs a GET license, whether a corporation, a sole proprietor working from home, a landlord with one rental, or a mainland company with Hawaii nexus. You register on Form BB-1, the State of Hawaii Basic Business Application, and tick "General Excise/Use Tax"; registering for GET automatically registers you for use tax. There's one application per taxpayer, not per activity, so list all your activities on the same form.

The fee is a one-time $20. DOTAX says online applications through Hawaii Tax Online (hitax.hawaii.gov) get a Hawaii Tax ID in about five to seven business days, mailed or dropped-off forms take about four weeks, and applying in person at a district tax office gets you the ID the same day. There's no renewal fee. If you work only a single event, such as a trade show, a convention or a concert, choose "GE One-Time Event" on the BB-1 and file a single G-45 for that event.

Display the license at your place of business. A second location or a second trade name needs a branch license on Form G-50, which is free. Licenses can't be transferred: if you buy an existing business, register in your own name. A license that's cancelled can't be reactivated, so you'd pay the $20 again for a new one. If you pause your business, Form L-9 lets you put the license on inactive status for up to two years, during which you still file annual returns but not periodic ones.

Doing business without a license is expensive. DOTAX's Special Enforcement Section can issue a civil citation of $500 for most businesses and $2,000 for cash-based businesses, and $500 or $1,000 for failing to produce the license on request.

Before your first Hawaii sale

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Filing Forms G-45 and G-49

GET has two kinds of return. Form G-45 is the periodic return, filed monthly, quarterly or semiannually. Form G-49 is the annual reconciliation, a summary of the whole year that also lets you correct earlier periods and claim exemptions you missed. You need both, and you file them even when no tax is due: write zero in the line for your main activity.

Your periodic frequency depends on your yearly GET including the county surcharge. At $2,000 a year or less you can file semiannually. Up to $4,000 you can file quarterly. Above $4,000 a year you must file monthly, and monthly filers must file electronically on Hawaii Tax Online unless DOTAX grants a waiver on Form L-110. Since tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, a taxpayer whose total liability for the year doesn't exceed $100 doesn't need to file G-45s at all, though the G-49 is still required. Choosing to file more often than required will get you moved to monthly filing.

Periodic returns are due on the 20th day of the month after the period ends: February 20 for January, April 20 for the first quarter, July 20 for the January–June half. The G-49 is due on the 20th day of the fourth month after the tax year, which is April 20 for calendar-year filers. Weekend and holiday due dates move to the next business day. There's no extension for G-45s; Form GEW-TA-RV-6 can extend a G-49 by up to six months, but not the payment.

Hawaii GET filing frequency (2026)

Yearly GET (incl. surcharge)	Form G-45 frequency	Due
$100 or less	No periodic returns	G-49 only, by April 20
$2,000 a year or less	Semiannual	July 20 and January 20
$4,000 or less	Quarterly	20th after each quarter
More than $4,000 a year	Monthly, filed electronically	20th of the next month
More than $100,000 a year	Monthly, paid by EFT	20th of the next month

$100 or less

Form G-45 frequency: No periodic returns
Due: G-49 only, by April 20

$2,000 a year or less

Form G-45 frequency: Semiannual
Due: July 20 and January 20

$4,000 or less

Form G-45 frequency: Quarterly
Due: 20th after each quarter

More than $4,000 a year

Form G-45 frequency: Monthly, filed electronically
Due: 20th of the next month

More than $100,000 a year

Form G-45 frequency: Monthly, paid by EFT
Due: 20th of the next month

Large taxpayers pay electronically. If your combined GET, use tax and surcharge exceed $100,000 a year a year, you must pay by electronic funds transfer; missing that rule or the e-filing rule costs a 2% penalty on the total tax.

Late filing costs 5% a month (max 25%) of the unpaid tax. If you file on time but don't pay within 60 days of the due date, a 20% penalty applies. Interest runs at 2/3 of 1% a month. Filing the G-49 matters for another reason: it starts the three-year statute of limitations, and if you don't file it within 12 months of its due date you can lose the right to GET benefits such as exemptions and the wholesale rate. Keep records in Hawaii, in English, for at least three years.

Exemptions and deductions go on Schedule GE, attached to the G-45 and G-49 with the right exemption code. If you leave Schedule GE off, DOTAX disallows the exemptions.

Remote sellers, use tax and nexus

A business located outside Hawaii owes GET once it has nexus. Physical presence, such as an office, employees, inventory or people doing installation or repair work in Hawaii, creates nexus. So does economic activity: a seller with $100,000 or 200 transactions into Hawaii in the current or preceding calendar year is treated as doing business in the state, even with no physical presence. From then on, all its Hawaii sales are subject to GET at 4.5%, and the county surcharge applies to out-of-state and neighbor-island businesses as well.

For a remote seller this is still a tax on the seller, so the same pass-on rules apply. Most online stores add 4.712% at checkout for Hawaii addresses. Sellers that only sell through a marketplace facilitator count those sales toward the threshold and report them at the wholesale rate, while the platform pays the retail GET.

The use tax is GET's mirror image. It applies to goods, services, contracting and intangibles imported into Hawaii from an unlicensed out-of-state seller who didn't pay GET. The rate is 4.5% for things you use yourself and 0.5% for goods imported for resale, based on the landed value: price plus shipping, insurance and customs duty. A Hawaii shop that orders inventory from a mainland supplier owes 0.5% use tax on it; the same shop ordering a new laptop for its office owes 4.5%. Both go on the same G-45 and G-49 returns as your GET.

How Hawaii's GET reached today's rules

January 1, 2007

Honolulu's 0.5% county surcharge begins

January 1, 2019

Kauai adds 0.5%; Hawaii County adds 0.25%

January 1, 2020

Hawaii County rises to 0.5%; marketplace facilitators become retailers under Act 2

January 1, 2024

Maui County adds 0.5%, so all four counties total 4.5%

January 1, 2026

Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE healthcare receipts exempt (Act 47)

December 31, 2030

County surcharges scheduled to end unless extended

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The biggest recent change is for healthcare. Act 47 of 2024 added an exemption to section 237-24.3 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes that took effect on January 1, 2026. DOTAX's Tax Information Release 2025-02, issued August 1, 2025, says it covers hospitals, infirmaries, medical clinics, health care facilities, pharmacies, physicians and osteopathic physicians, dentists, advanced practice registered nurses and pharmacists. Amounts they receive for healthcare goods and services covered by Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE are exempt, whether paid by the program or by the patient as a deductible, copay or coinsurance. Providers still report the income on Form G-45 and G-49 and claim the exemption on Schedule GE with the designated code. Care paid by private insurance or out of pocket outside those programs remains taxable.

DOTAX revised its main GET brochure and Tax Facts 37-1 in May 2025, and its pages now show the 0.5% surcharge in all four counties through December 31, 2030. Food remains taxable: Hawaii has no general grocery exemption, though amounts paid with SNAP benefits or WIC vouchers can be deducted. Bills to exempt groceries come up in most legislative sessions, so check DOTAX's announcements before assuming the rules have changed.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Charging 4.5% instead of the pass-on rate. You'll under-recover your tax by a little on every sale. Set your register or online store to 4.712%, not 4.5%.

Charging more than 4.712%. Rounding up to 5% or adding a "tax and fees" line that exceeds the GET due breaks consumer protection law. Fix the rate and refund any excess you collected.

Reporting only the price, not the GET collected. Your gross income includes the GET you passed on. Report the full amount received.

Using the wholesale rate without proof. Keep a resale certificate from each buyer. A business that buys supplies to use up, such as cleaning products or office paper, isn't reselling them, so check what each customer does with the goods.

Skipping Form G-75 or Schedule GE. Missing G-75 counts as a failure to file, with a 10% penalty, and missing Schedule GE means DOTAX disallows the exemptions you claimed.

Not filing the annual G-49. Without it, the statute of limitations never starts, and after 12 months you can lose exemptions and lower rates for the year.

Treating nonprofit buyers as exempt. They aren't, for GET purposes. Charge them as you would any customer unless a specific deduction, such as goods sold to the federal government, applies.

Official links

What to do next

Register on Hawaii Tax Online and pay the $20 fee before your first sale, decide whether you'll pass on the tax, and set your prices or checkout to add no more than 4.712%. Sort your income into retail and wholesale activities, collect resale certificates from wholesale buyers, and put the 20th of the month on your calendar. Use the sales tax calculator to check a Hawaii invoice at 4.712%, and our guide to calculating sales tax for tax-included prices. New Mexico runs a similar business-level tax; see our New Mexico gross receipts tax guide, and read about economic nexus and use tax if you sell across state lines.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Hawaii doesn't have a sales tax. It has the general excise tax (GET), charged to businesses at 4% on retail sales, services and most other activities, plus a 0.5% county surcharge in every county, for 4.5%. Businesses that pass the tax on to customers may add up to 4.712%, which is the figure shoppers usually see on Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Big Island receipts.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 11 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1.General Excise Tax (GET) Information and FAQs — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
2.County Surcharge on General Excise and Use Tax — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
3.An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised May 2025) — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
4.Tax Facts 37-1, General Excise Tax (GET) (revised May 2025) — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
5.Tax Information Release No. 2025-02 (Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE exemption) — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
6.Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (rev. 2), Marketplace Facilitators — Hawaii Department of Taxation · accessed 11 October 2026
7.Hawaii Tax Department Announces New General Excise Tax Exemption for Healthcare Providers — Bloomberg Tax · accessed 11 October 2026

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We provide tools, guides and information for general educational purposes only. Always refer to official government websites for the latest and most accurate information.