Key takeaways
- The GET is a tax on the business. The state says Hawaii does not have a sales tax, so the return is built from gross income, not from tax collected.
- Filing frequency follows expected annual liability: $2,000 or less is semi-annual, $4,000 or less is quarterly and above $4,000 is monthly.
- Form G-45 is due on the 20th after the period closes, and the next business day when the 20th lands on a weekend or holiday.
- Every taxpayer files the annual Form G-49 and files a return even when the period had no income.
What the GET is and why it is not sales tax
The Hawaii Department of Taxation describes the GET as a tax assessed on all business activities, imposed on the business and not on the customer. A seller may choose to show it as a separate line on the invoice, but it is not required to. Whether it is shown or buried in the price, the liability is the same: a percentage of gross income.
That means the return does not start from a tax-collected account. A restaurant that adds nothing to its menu prices still owes the GET on every dollar of sales. When you take over a client, check how the invoicing system treats the tax line. If it posts the added GET to income instead of to a liability account, gross income is overstated and the return will be wrong in the other direction.
The state sets a ceiling on what can be passed through: 4.712% including the county surcharge. A client who adds 4.712% to every sale is within the limit, but the amount owed may be lower if some of those sales are wholesale or deductible, so the pass-through line and the return can legitimately differ.
Rates and the county surcharge
The general rate is 4%. Wholesaling, manufacturing, producing and wholesale services are taxed at 0.5%. Insurance commissions are taxed at 0.15%. Assign each revenue stream to a rate when you set up the chart of accounts, because a client with a retail counter and a wholesale channel needs two income accounts.
A county surcharge of 0.5% is added to the 4% rate in Honolulu, Kauai, Hawaii County and Maui. The state lists the Honolulu and Kauai surcharges running through 2030, Hawaii County through 2030 and Maui from 2024 through 2030. The surcharge does not apply to the 0.5% wholesale rate.
For a client who sells in more than one county, collect sales by county each period. A client on Oahu with a pop-up at a Maui market has two surcharge treatments in one return, and a single monthly total hides that.
Getting registered
A GET license is required to do business in Hawaii. It costs a one-time $20 and is applied for with Form BB-1, the State of Hawaii Basic Business Application. Additional branch locations use Form G-50, which carries no added charge.
Out-of-state sellers should look at economic nexus before assuming they are exempt. The department sets the threshold at $100,000 or more in gross income or receipts, or 200 or more transactions, in the current or preceding calendar year. If the client crosses it, the registration step comes before the first return, so ask for a year-to-date Hawaii sales report before you promise a filing date.
How frequency is assigned and what it means
Hawaii sets the filing period from the liability the taxpayer expects for the year. Expected annual liability of $2,000 or less files semi-annually, $4,000 or less files quarterly and anything above $4,000 files monthly. The state's page does not explain how the expectation is calculated, so confirm the frequency printed on the client's Hawaii Tax Online account instead of working it out from last year's sales.
Worked example: a bakery on Maui expects $90,000 of retail sales. At 4.5% including the surcharge the liability is just over the $4,000 line, so the account should be monthly. A $60,000 year at the same rate lands well inside the quarterly band.
Monthly filers are required to file online. The department says taxpayers are required to file monthly returns online at Hawaii Tax Online. Semi-annual and quarterly filers may file on paper, but there is little reason to. Failing to e-file or e-pay when required carries a 2% penalty.
Due dates for tax year 2026 and the weekend rule
Form G-45 is due 20 days after the period closes. The state gives the examples of a January to June return due July 20, a January to March return due April 20 and a January return due February 20. When the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the return is due the next business day.
Applied to the 2026 calendar: the October monthly return is due Friday, November 20, 2026. The November return is due Monday, December 21, 2026, because December 20 is a Sunday. The December monthly return, the October to December quarterly return and the July to December semi-annual return are all due Wednesday, January 20, 2027.
The annual reconciliation, Form G-49, is due on the 20th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends. For a calendar 2026 filer that is Tuesday, April 20, 2027. Every taxpayer files it, including those on a semi-annual schedule. Put both dates on the client calendar in November so that the January bunching, three returns on one day for some clients, does not surprise you.
Zero returns, penalties and interest
A return is required even when there was no income in the period. A seasonal client that closes for winter still files a zero Form G-45, and skipping it starts the same penalty clock as a late return with tax due.
The late filing penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, capped at 25%. A separate 20% penalty may apply if tax on a timely filed return is still unpaid 60 days after the due date. Interest runs at 2/3 of 1% per month on unpaid tax and penalties. The department also lists a 10% penalty for failing to complete Part V of the return correctly.
Example: a client owes $3,000 on a return due November 20 and pays on December 28. The tax was unpaid for part of a second month, so the late filing penalty is 5% for the first month and 5% for the part month, a total of 10%, or $300, before interest. Paying even a day after the due date opens the first month, so tell the client the cutoff is the due date, not the end of the week.
What to collect from the client each period
Ask for gross income by rate and by county, not a single sales total. The request that works is: "Please send your Hawaii sales for October by island, and separate any wholesale sales to customers who will resell the goods." Attach the point-of-sale summary, not the bank deposit report, since deposits are net of card fees and mix in tips and transfers.
Ask for the support behind every deduction or exemption claimed. Wholesale sales need a resale certificate on file, and the state's separate schedules cover GET exemptions and deductions. If a client says a sale is exempt, ask what the exemption is and for the document. A claim with no paper behind it is the one an audit reverses.
Collect any amount the client added to invoices as GET, with the invoice total it was added to. Compare it with the return's liability each month. A gap larger than the wholesale and deduction amounts explain means the pass-through account is misposted or invoices are missing.
Request this a week before the due date, not on it. A monthly return due on the 20th needs the client's numbers by the 12th if you want a day to review and a day to pay online.
Where Usual fits
A monthly GET client is a recurring request: same items, same cutoff, a deadline that moves with the weekend rule. In Usual you can set the request to recur monthly, due on the 12th for a Form G-45 filed by the 20th, with a table for sales by island and a file upload for the point-of-sale report, and reminders that stop once the client submits. The filing itself stays in Hawaii Tax Online.