2023 Hawaii Revised Statutes
Title 14. Taxation
237. General Excise Tax Law
- 237-1 Definitions.
- 237-2 "Business", "engaging" in business, defined.
- 237-2.5 Engaging in business in the State.
- 237-3 "Gross income", "gross proceeds of sale", defined.
- 237-4 "Wholesaler", "jobber", defined.
- 237-4.5 Marketplace facilitators.
- 237-5 "Producer" defined.
- 237-6 "Contractor", "contracting", "federal cost-plus contractor", defined.
- 237-7 "Service business or calling", defined.
- 237-8 Administration and enforcement by department.
- 237-8.5 REPEALED.
- 237-8.6 County surcharge on state tax; administration. [Section repealed December 31, 2030. L Sp 2017, c 1, §6.] (a) The county surcharge on state tax, upon the adoption of county ordinances and in accordance with the requirements of section 46-16.8, shall be levied, assessed, and collected as provided in this section on all gross proceeds and gross income taxable under this chapter. No county shall set the surcharge on state tax at a rate greater than one-half per cent of all gross proceeds and gross income taxable under this chapter. All provisions of this chapter shall apply to the county surcharge on state tax. With respect to the surcharge, the director of taxation shall have all the rights and powers provided under this chapter. In addition, the director of taxation shall have the exclusive rights and power to determine the county or counties in which a person is engaged in business and, in the case of a person engaged in business in more than one county, the director shall determine, through apportionment or other means, that portion of the surcharge on state tax attributable to business conducted in each county. (b) Each county surcharge on state tax that may be adopted, extended, or amended pursuant to section 46-16.8 shall be levied beginning in a taxable year after the adoption of the relevant county ordinance; provided that no surcharge on state tax may be levied: (1) Before: (A) January 1, 2007, if the county surcharge on state tax was established by an ordinance adopted before December 31, 2005; (B) January 1, 2019, if the county surcharge on state tax was established by the adoption of an ordinance after June 30, 2015, but before June 30, 2018; (C) January 1, 2020, if the county surcharge on state tax was established by the adoption of an ordinance on or after June 30, 2018, but before March 31, 2019; (D) January 1, 2024, if the county surcharge on state tax was established by the adoption of an ordinance on or after March 31, 2019, but before August 1, 2023; or (E) January 1, 2025, if the county surc
- 237-9 Licenses; penalty.
- 237-9.3 General excise tax benefits; denial of tax benefits for failure to properly claim.
- 237-9.5 No separate licensing, filing, or liability for certain revocable trusts.
- 237-10 REPEALED.
- 237-10.5 Reporting requirement for contractors on federal construction projects.
- 237-11 Tax year.
- 237-12 Tax cumulative; extent of license.
- 237-13 Imposition of tax.
- 237-13.3 REPEALED.
- 237-13.5 Assessment on generated electricity.
- 237-13.8 Sales of telecommunications services through prepaid telephone calling service.
- 237-14 Segregation of gross income, etc., on records and in returns.
- 237-14.5 Segregation of gross income, etc., on records and in returns of telecommunications businesses.
- 237-15 Technicians.
- 237-16 REPEALED.
- 237-16.5 Tax on written real property leases; deduction allowed.
- 237-16.8 Exemption of certain convention, conference, and trade show fees.
- 237-17 Persons with impaired sight, hearing, or who are totally disabled.
- 237-18 Further provisions as to application of tax.
- 237-19 REPEALED.
- 237-20 Principles applicable in certain situations.
- 237-21 Apportionment.
- 237-22 Conformity to Constitution, etc.
- 237-23 Exemptions, persons exempt, applications for exemption.
- 237-23.5 Related entities; common paymaster; certain exempt transactions. (a) This chapter shall not apply to amounts received, charged, or attributable to services furnished by one related entity to another related entity or to imputed or stated interest attributable to loans, advances, or use of capital between related entities. As used in this subsection: "Related entities" means: (1) An affiliated group of corporations within the meaning of section 1504 (with respect to affiliated group defined) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; (2) A controlled group of corporations within the meaning of section 1563 (with respect to definitions and special rules) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; (3) Those entities connected through ownership of at least eighty per cent of the total value and at least eighty per cent of the total voting power of each such entity (or combination thereof), including partnerships, associations, trusts, S corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited liability partnerships, or limited liability companies; and (4) Any group or combination of the entities described in paragraph (3) constituting a unitary business for income tax purposes; whether or not the entity is located within or without the State or licensed under this chapter. "Services" means legal and accounting services, the use of computer software and hardware, information technology services, database management, and those managerial and administrative services performed by an employee, officer, partner, trustee, sole proprietor, member, or manager in the person's capacity as an employee, officer, partner, trustee, sole proprietor, member, or manager of one of the related entities and shall include overhead costs attributable to those services. (b) This chapter shall not apply to amounts received by common paymasters which are disbursed as remuneration to employees of two or more related corporations where the common paymaster is making such remunerations on behalf of such cor
- 237-24 Amounts not taxable.
- 237-24.3 Additional amounts not taxable.
- 237-24.5 Additional exemptions.
- 237-24.7 Additional amounts not taxable.
- 237-24.75 Additional exemptions.
- 237-24.8 Amounts not taxable for financial institutions.
- 237-24.9 Aircraft service and maintenance facility.
- 237-25 Exemptions of sales and gross proceeds of sales to federal government, and credit unions.
- 237-26 Exemption of certain scientific contracts with the United States.
- 237-27 Exemption of certain petroleum refiners.
- 237-27.1 REPEALED.
- 237-27.5 Air pollution control facility.
- 237-27.6 Solid waste processing, disposal, and electric generating facility; certain amounts exempt.
- 237-28 REPEALED.
- 237-28.1 Exemption of certain shipbuilding and ship repair business.
- 237-28.2 REPEALED.
- 237-29 Exemptions for certified or approved housing projects.
- 237-29.5 Exemption for sales of tangible personal property shipped out of the State.
- 237-29.53 Exemption for contracting or services exported out of State.
- 237-29.55 Exemption for sale of tangible personal property for resale at wholesale. (a) There shall be exempted from, and excluded from the measure of, the taxes imposed by this chapter all of the gross proceeds or gross income arising from the sale of tangible personal property imported to Hawaii from a foreign or domestic source to a licensed taxpayer for subsequent resale for the purpose of wholesale as defined under section 237-4. (b) The department, by rule, may provide that a seller may take from the purchaser of imported tangible personal property, a certificate, in a form that the department shall prescribe, certifying that the purchaser of the imported tangible personal property shall resell the imported tangible personal property at wholesale as defined under section 237-4. Any purchaser who furnishes a certificate shall be obligated to pay to the seller, upon demand, if the sale in fact is not a sale for the purpose of resale at wholesale, the amount of the additional tax which by reason thereof is imposed upon the seller. The absence of a certificate, unless the sales of the business are exclusively a sale for the purpose of resale at wholesale, in itself, shall give rise to the presumption that the sale is not a sale for the purpose of resale at wholesale. [L 1998, c 247, §1]
- 237-29.57 Exemption for intangible property used outside the State.
- 237-29.6 REPEALED.
- 237-29.65 REPEALED.
- 237-29.7 Exemption of insurance companies.
- 237-29.75 REPEALED.
- 237-29.8 Call centers; exemption; engaging in business; definitions.
- 237-30 Monthly, quarterly, or semiannual return, computation of tax, payment.
- 237-30.5 Collection of rental by third party; filing with department; statement required. "HAWAII GENERAL EXCISE TAXES MUST BE PAID ON THE GROSS RENTS COLLECTED BY ANY PERSON RENTING REAL PROPERTY IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. A COPY OF THE FIRST PAGE OF THIS AGREEMENT, OR OF FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE FORM 1099 STATING THE AMOUNT OF RENTS COLLECTED, SHALL BE FILED WITH THE HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION."
- 237-30.7 Withholding of tax by persons claiming the motion picture, digital media, and film production income tax credit.
- 237-31 Remittances.
- 237-32 Penalties.
- 237-33 Annual return, payment of tax.
- 237-33.5 Federal assessments; adjustments of gross income or gross proceeds of sale; report to the department. (a) Any person required to report to the department by section 235-101(b), also shall report to the department any change, correction, adjustment, or recomputation of gross income or gross proceeds of sale subject to the tax imposed by this chapter. This report shall be made in the form of a return amending the person's gross income or gross proceeds of sale as previously reported on a return filed with the department for the taxable year. If no return has been filed with the department for the taxable year, a return shall be filed and shall take into account any change, correction, adjustment, or recomputation of gross income or gross proceeds of sale. (b) Any return or amended return required by this section shall be filed with the department within ninety days after the change, correction, adjustment, or recomputation is finally determined or an amended return is filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The return or amended return shall be accompanied by a copy of the document issued by the United States notifying the taxpayer of the change, correction, adjustment, or recomputation. (c) The statutory period for the assessment of any deficiency or the determination of any refund attributable to the report required by this section shall not expire before the expiration of one year from the date the department is notified by the taxpayer or the Internal Revenue Service, whichever is earlier, of such a report as provided in subsection (a). Before the expiration of this one-year period, the department and the taxpayer may agree, in writing, to the extension of this period. The period so agreed upon may be further extended by subsequent agreements in writing made before the expiration of the period previously agreed upon. [L 1993, c 32, §1]
- 237-34 Filing of returns; disclosure of returns unlawful, penalty; destruction of returns.
- 237-35 Consolidated reports; interrelated business.
- 237-36 Erroneous returns, disallowance of exemption, payment.
- 237-37 Refunds and credits.
- 237-38 Failure to make return.
- 237-39 Audits; procedure, penalties.
- 237-40 Limitation period.
- 237-41 Records to be kept; examination.
- 237-41.5 Certain amounts held in trust; liability of key individuals.
Cross References
Tax collection; mainland contractors working on federal construction projects, see 231-9.3.
Attorney General Opinions
Hawaii's general excise tax and use tax are not expressly preempted by the federal Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934, and Congress has not assumed exclusive regulatory powers in foreign-trade zones such that the State is preempted from imposing taxes on all activity within a foreign-trade zone. Ultimately, whether a state tax can be applied to a particular activity within a foreign-trade zone depends on whether the tax conflicts with the purposes and objectives of the federal Act. Att. Gen. Op. 21-01.
Law Journals and Reviews
Taxes in Hawaii since July 1, 1968: A Report on the Unreported Decisions of Judge Dick Yin Wong. 9 HBJ, no. 4, at 95 (1973).
Taxes in Hawaii 1983-1988: A Funny Thing Happened at the Forum. 22 HBJ, no. 1, at 53 (1989).
Hawaii's General Excise Tax Law: A Comprehensive Review of the Decisions. II HBJ, no. 13, at 1 (1998).
Case Notes
Where plaintiff was a "retailer" licensed under this chapter, used the goods in Hawaii after it purchased and imported them from the mainland "for purposes of resale", it was liable for the use tax under this section. 128 H. 116, 284 P.3d 209 (2012).
Value of management and administrative services taxpayer provided to its wholly owned subsidiaries was taxable under this chapter. 6 H. App. 260, 718 P.2d 1122 (1986).