Hawaii general excise tax on invoices (2026 guide)

Hawaii doesn't have a sales tax in the usual sense. It has a general excise tax (GET) — a tax on the business's gross income, not on the customer. The state rate for most retail sales and services is 4%, and every county now adds a 0.5% county surcharge, so the total is 4.5% across the state.

Because the GET is your tax, you owe it whether or not you charge it to your customer. Most Hawaii businesses do choose to pass it on visibly on their invoices, and the Department of Taxation publishes a maximum pass-on rate for doing so. This guide explains the rates, the pass-on math, GE licenses and what your invoice should show.

Hawaii GET rates

The City and County of Honolulu, the County of Hawaii, the County of Kauai and the County of Maui all have a 0.5% surcharge, each in effect through December 31, 2030 (Maui's began on January 1, 2024). The surcharge only applies to activities taxed at the 4% rate — not to wholesaling at 0.5% or insurance commissions at 0.15%.

Which services are taxable in Hawaii?

Almost all of them. The GET applies to the gross income from virtually every business activity in Hawaii — sales of goods, services, rents, commissions, construction and more — unless a specific exemption applies.

That's the big difference from most states. In Hawaii, consulting, design, writing, web development, photography, cleaning, repairs and professional services are generally all subject to GET. If you're a freelancer working with Hawaii clients, assume your work is taxable unless you've confirmed an exemption.

Getting a Hawaii GE license

If you do business in Hawaii you need a general excise tax license from the Department of Taxation. You can apply with Form BB-1, State of Hawaii Basic Business Application, or online, and there's a one-time $20 registration fee.

Once licensed, you file:

1. Form G-45, the periodic return — monthly, quarterly or semiannually depending on how much GET you expect to owe, and
2. Form G-49, the annual return that reconciles your gross income, exemptions and tax for the year.

Out-of-state sellers: under Act 41 (2018), a business with no physical presence in Hawaii is still doing business there if it has $100,000 or more of gross income from Hawaii, or 200 or more transactions in Hawaii, in the current or preceding calendar year. Meeting either test is enough, and the 200 transactions can be any mix of goods delivered in Hawaii, services used or consumed there, and intangibles used there.

Passing the GET on to your customer

The Department says you may visibly pass the GET on to your customer, but you're not required to; passing it on is a matter of contract between you and your customer.

The maximum pass-on rate is 4.712%, not 4.5%. That's because the GET is charged on your gross income — and the tax you collect from your customer is part of that gross income. The math: when the tax is 4.5% of the total, your price is the other 95.5%, and 4.5% ÷ 95.5% = 4.712%. Charging 4.712% on your price covers the 4.5% you owe on the larger total. Don't charge more than the published maximum.

What a Hawaii invoice should show

• your business name and address,
• the customer's name and address,
• a unique invoice number and the invoice date,
• a description and price for each item or service,
• if you're passing it on, the GET as a separate line, labelled as general excise tax (not "sales tax"), with its rate or amount, and
• the total due.

In Invoice Native, tick Tax on the lines you're passing GET on for and enter 4.712% (or a lower rate if you choose to absorb part of it).

Resale and wholesale certificates

Sales for resale aren't exempt in Hawaii — they're taxed at the 0.5% wholesale rate instead of 4%. To support the lower rate, keep the right certificate from your customer:

• Form G-17, Resale Certificate, when a business buys goods from you to resell.
• Form G-82, the certificate for sales of services and amusements that qualify as wholesale transactions — for example, certain services you provide to a licensed contractor that pass through to the contractor's customer.

The Department notes that the seller keeps Form G-82 on file and does not send it to the Department. If a resale certificate isn't in the proper form, the sale is presumed not to be at wholesale. For other exempt customers, see how to invoice a tax-exempt customer, and check that a GET exemption actually applies.

A worked example

Say you're a graphic designer in Honolulu and you invoice a local business $2,000 for a brand identity project, passing on the GET at the maximum rate:

• GET passed on: $2,000 × 4.712% = $94.24
• invoice total: $2,094.24

Your gross income from the job is the full $2,094.24, and the GET you owe is 4.5% of that: $2,094.24 × 4.5% = $94.2408, or $94.24 — exactly what you collected. If you had charged only 4.5% ($90.00), you'd still owe 4.5% on $2,090.00, which is $94.05, and the $4.05 difference would come out of your pocket.

Selling to customers in other states

The GET is about business activity in Hawaii. If you ship goods or deliver taxable services to customers in another state, that state's rules may apply instead. Since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states can require out-of-state sellers to register and collect their sales tax once sales into the state pass a threshold the state sets. If you sell across state lines regularly, check the thresholds and registration rules of each state you sell into — and use that state's rate on those invoices.

Common mistakes on Hawaii invoices

• Thinking services are exempt. In Hawaii most services are subject to GET.
• Passing on only 4.5% and then owing tax on the tax you collected.
• Charging more than the 4.712% maximum pass-on rate.
• Calling it "sales tax" on the invoice.
• Adding the county surcharge to wholesale sales, which are taxed at 0.5% with no surcharge.
• Not keeping Forms G-17 or G-82 for sales you report at the wholesale rate.

Quick checklist for Hawaii invoices

• ✅ GE license (Form BB-1 or online, $20 one-time fee)
• ✅ GET treated as your tax on all Hawaii gross income, services included
• ✅ Pass-on rate no higher than 4.712%
• ✅ GET shown on its own line if you pass it on
• ✅ Form G-45 periodic and Form G-49 annual returns filed
• ✅ Resale (G-17) and wholesale services (G-82) certificates on file