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The pages we read treat the entity filing and the tax license as two separate steps. The Business Registration Division handles the entity. The tax license comes from the Department of Taxation. Counties and professional boards add their own permits on top, depending on what you do.
What is the General Excise Tax license?
The Department of Taxation says businesses operating in Hawaii must register with it for a license, permit, certificate or exemption. For most owners that means the General Excise Tax license, usually called GET. The Department's licensing table says it is for anyone who receives income from business activity in the state. That includes wholesaling, retailing, farming, services, construction contracting, renting property, business interest income and royalties.
The registration fee is $20, paid at registration, and the table lists the registration frequency as one time. Other tax licenses on the same table cost more or less and some renew each year. Read the row for each one you hold.
How do I apply?
Use Hawaii Tax Online and choose Register New Business, or submit Form BB-1. Form your entity first if you plan to run the business through an LLC. Our Hawaii LLC guide covers the filing with the Business Registration Division, and you will want an EIN, so see how to get an EIN.
Licenses are mailed after they are issued or renewed. You can also download a printable letter with the license from Hawaii Tax Online after you sign in. The license carries a QR code that can be scanned to check that it is genuine and active. To find a lost license number, use Search Tax Licenses on Hawaii Tax Online.
What do I owe after I register?
Returns. Every license holder files periodic and annual returns even if no tax is due. If you earned nothing in a period, report zero.
If you stop trading for a while, Form L-9 puts the general excise, transient accommodations, withholding and some other licenses on hold. An account may sit inactive for up to two years, with one more request allowed for two more years. Annual returns still have to be filed. You can reactivate any time by telling the Department.
A good order for a new owner: register the entity, get the EIN, register for the GET license, then ask your county and any professional board what else applies. The Business Action Center says its offices can give you the contact details for the issuing agency of each permit.
Which other Hawaii licenses might apply?
The Business Action Center lists the usual places to look. Professional and vocational licenses come from a division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, including a Real Estate Licensing Branch. Special permits and licenses required by the four county governments are handled by the counties, and the Business Action Center says to call one of its offices for those. If you hire people, there is also Unemployment Insurance tax, handled by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
How do I check a Hawaii license?
For a state tax license, search for it on the Department of Taxation's site, as the Business Action Center suggests. For a professional license, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has a check tool for active status. Our business license lookup and state tax ID lookup guides cover the numbers. Hawaii also has an annual report for the entity itself, which is separate from any license.
This page does not cover county permits, the GET rate, or transient accommodations tax.