Hawaii Income Tax Calculator

Hawaii state tax quick facts Income tax: 1.4% - 11% Sales tax: 0% with a general excise tax (GET) of 4% - 4.5% Property tax: 0.27% average effective rate Gas tax: 48.1 cents per gallon of regular gasoline, 49.2 cents per gallon of diesel

If you’re thinking about a move to the Aloha State, you’ll want to know how the state’s tax system affects your finances. The most significant tax in the state is the personal income tax. Income earners living on the Hawaiian Islands pay tax rates between 1.4% and 11%.

Though the top income tax rate is quite high, property taxes average just 0.27% of property values annually, the lowest effective property tax rate in the U.S. While Hawaii doesn’t technically have a state sales tax, there is a general excise tax that businesses pay on all business activities and this is generally passed onto consumers. The excise tax is 4%, with some counties charging an additional 0.5%.

Hawaii Income Tax

Hawaii’s top income tax rate of 11% is one of the highest in the United States. The table below shows brackets and marginal tax rates for all filing statuses in Hawaii.

Those rates apply to Hawaii taxable income, which is based on Hawaii adjusted gross income (AGI). This is similar to the federal AGI that appears on your IRS form 1040, with some key differences. Several types of income that are taxable federally are not taxable in Hawaii and must be subtracted to calculate Hawaii AGI. Many types of pensions are exempt, as are all Social Security benefits.

Payments made to an individual housing account (intended for the down payment on a first home) can also be subtracted up to $5,000 per year and $25,000 total. Other subtractions include interest from federal obligations (like U.S. Savings Bonds) and benefits from, or premiums paid to, legal services plans.

After determining your state AGI, you can calculate Hawaii taxable income by subtracting deductions and personal exemptions. You may claim itemized deductions if the total of your itemized deductions you claim is larger than the Hawaii standard deduction. That’s $2,200 for single filers and married persons filing separately, $4,400 for joint filers and $3,212 for heads of household.

Hawaii Tax Credits

Once you have calculated your tax liability, there are tax credits you can claim in Hawaii to reduce the amount you have to pay. In some cases, if your tax liability is zero, these credits can actually return money to you (these are called refundable credits). The credits available include:

• Refundable Food/Excise Tax Credit – taxpayers with income less than $50,000 per year may qualify for this credit based on food sales taxes
• Credit for Low-Income Household Renters – a refundable credit for renters with Hawaii AGI less than $30,000
• Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses – a refundable credit for some child care expenses
• Credit for Child Passenger Restraint System – a refundable credit of $25 for taxpayers who purchased a child safety seat

Hawaii Capital Gains Tax

In Hawaii, the taxes you pay on long-term capital gains will depend on your taxable income and your filing status. You will pay either 0%, 15% or 20% in tax on long-term capital gains (which are gains that are realized from the sale of investment you held for at least one year). Short-term capital gains are taxed at the full income tax rates listed above.

Hawaii Sales Tax

Hawaii doesn’t technically have a sales tax. The state does have a general excise tax (GET) that businesses are required to pay. They are allowed to (and often do) pass this tax on to customers. So in effect, Hawaiians statewide pay an extra 4% for services and goods. Additionally, one locality has an additional excise tax—Honolulu County (which is coterminous with the island of Oahu) imposes an extra 0.5% to support the county transportation system. That means the total tax rate in Honolulu County is 4.5%.

While Hawaii’s GET is lower than the sales tax of most states, the tax applies to far more products and services than do sales taxes in most other states. Hawaii’s tax applies not only to finished products being sold to a consumer, but to (nearly) all goods sold in the state, even if they are intended for resale. Also unlike many states, it applies to services, meaning the tax applies to health care providers, auto mechanics and legal services.

As mentioned above, businesses in Hawaii are able to pass the general excise tax to customers. The result is that goods and services often cost more. So if a business takes an item that would normally cost $100, and charges an additional $4.00 to cover the tax, the customer is effectively paying a 4% sales tax. But businesses in Hawaii are actually allowed to pass on a slightly higher percent to customers to cover the cost of the excise tax. The maximum rate passed on to customers is 4.712% in Honolulu County and 4.166% elsewhere.

The most significant exception to the Hawaii GET is for prescription drugs and prosthetic devices. These are totally exempt for taxation. However, food (which is also typically exempt in other states) is subject to the tax, although low-income taxpayers may be eligible for a tax credit to negate some of the cost of the tax.

Hawaii Property Tax

Good news about that Maui beach house you’ve been eyeing: Hawaii has some of the lowest property tax rates in the country. The state’s average effective property tax rate (annual taxes as a percentage of home value) is just 0.27%, lowest of any state. However, because of high home values, average annual property tax payments in Hawaii are $1,529, which ranks as only the 20th lowest.

If you’re considering buying a home in Hawaii, make sure to take a look at our our Hawaii mortgage rates guide which will help with all the details of getting a home loan in the state.

Calculate Your Property Taxes: Hawaii Property Tax Calculator

Hawaii Cigarette Tax

The tax on cigarettes in Hawaii is the sixth-highest in America. The tax adds up to $3.20 per pack of 20 cigarettes.

Hawaii Alcohol Tax

Excise taxes on alcohol in Hawaii vary greatly depending on the type of alcohol being purchased. The state’s beer taxes rank as the fifth-highest in the country, at 93 cents per gallon (or about 8.7 cents per beer). The state’s liquor taxes, however, add up to just $5.98 per gallon, or about 7 cents per drink. That’s the 24th-highest rate in the U.S.

Hawaii Estate Tax

There is an estate tax in Hawaii. The tax generally conforms to the federal estate tax, albeit with lower tax rates. The exemption for tax year 2018 is $5.49 million, which means that estates with a value below that cutoff do not pay any estate taxes. For any estate valued above that cutoff, marginal rates are 10% for the first $1 million ($5.49 – $6.49 million), 11% for the next $1 million, and continuing to escalate until you hit a top rate of 15.7% for estates with a value of $10.49 million and higher.

Hawaii Gas Tax

While your options for long-distance drives are limited in Hawaii, you should still take the state’s high gas taxes into account when planning a trip. The tax on regular gasoline is 48.1 cents per gallon, fourth-highest in the country. When combined with federal gas taxes, the total rate is 66.5 cents per gallon. Diesel is taxed at a state rate of 49.2 cents per gallon, or 73.6 cents per gallon when combined with federal taxes.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/SergiyN

There are three active volcanoes in Hawaii: Maunaloa, Kilauea and Loihi, which is an underwater volcano. The earliest human settlers to the Hawaiian Islands may have arrived as early as 300 CE (or 300 AD). According to the state of Hawaii, the Hawaiian chain comprises 137 islands but you generally only hear about the eight major islands.