Find Local Hawaii Tax Relief Experts

Hawaii has some of the most complex and high tax rates in the nation: individual income tax ranges from 1.4% to 11%, with the top rate applied to income above $200,000 for single filers. The General Excise Tax (GET) is Hawaii's equivalent of a sales tax, set at 4% statewide with a 0.5% surcharge in Honolulu; it applies to gross receipts of virtually all businesses, including services, which most states exempt from sales tax. The GET cascades through transactions: a wholesaler pays 0.5%, a retailer pays 4%, and the customer effectively pays tax on tax, making Hawaii's true tax burden higher than the nominal rate suggests. Payroll taxes include state income tax withholding plus Hawaii's Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Prepaid Health Care Act requirements, making Hawaii's employer compliance burden among the highest in the US. Back taxes accumulate at 8% annual interest on individual income tax; penalties include 5% for late filing and an additional 25% if the delinquency is more than 60 days old. Hawaii's Department of Taxation can garnish wages, levy bank accounts, place tax liens, and revoke business licenses for delinquent taxpayers. Tourism-related businesses, vacation rental operators, and remote workers who relocate to Hawaii frequently discover they owe GET on income they did not expect to be taxable. The state offers installment agreements and has a history of running voluntary disclosure programs to bring non-compliant taxpayers into the system.