To run a Hawaii GET license search, go to the Department of Taxation’s Hawaii Tax Online portal at hitax.hawaii.gov and use the “Search Tax Licenses” tool. It’s free, no account is required, and you can look up any business by its Hawaii Tax ID number or by legal or trade name. The tool returns the license status, effective date, and the types of business activity the entity registered for.1Department of Taxation. Department of Taxation
What You Need Before You Search
The most reliable input is the business’s Hawaii Tax ID number. A GET account uses the prefix “GE” followed by a formatted number sequence, for example GE-987-654-3210-01.2Hawaii Department of Taxation. Hawaii Tax ID Number Changes You can usually find that number printed on invoices, receipts, or contracts. Hawaii law also requires every licensee to display the GET license conspicuously at the place of business, so if you are on site, you can copy the number straight off the posted license.3Justia Law. Hawaii Code 237-9 – Licenses; Penalty
If you do not have the Tax ID, the legal business name or any registered “Doing Business As” trade name will work. Get the spelling right, since a name search can return several similarly named businesses and you want to be sure you are looking at the correct record.
Running the Search
Open hitax.hawaii.gov, or start at tax.hawaii.gov and click “Search Tax Licenses.” Enter the Tax ID or business name in the search field, complete the security verification, and submit. The system pulls matching records from the department’s database and displays them on screen. There is no fee, no login, and no limit on the number of lookups you can run.
Reading the Results
A successful lookup shows three things worth checking:
- License status. An “active” status confirms the business is currently authorized to conduct business in Hawaii and to pass GET along to customers. A cancelled or otherwise inactive status means the account is not in good standing.
- Effective date. This tells you how long the license has been on file, which can matter when you are verifying that a vendor was licensed at the time of a past transaction.
- Business activity type. The license lists what the entity registered for, such as retailing, wholesaling, services, or contracting. If a vendor is charging you at wholesale rates, or claiming to operate in a category with a different tax treatment, the activity type on file should match.
If nothing comes back, try the search again with the Tax ID rather than the name, or with a shorter portion of the name to catch spelling and punctuation differences. A blank result with correct inputs means there is no GET license on file under that identifier.
Using the Search to Verify a Wholesaler
One of the most common practical reasons to run a GET license search is to validate a buyer who wants to purchase at the wholesale rate. When a buyer presents a Form G-17 resale certificate and asks to be charged the lower 0.5% wholesale rate rather than the 4% retail rate, the seller is responsible for confirming that the buyer actually holds a valid GET license. Looking up the buyer’s Tax ID or business name in the license database is the fastest way to do that. Keep the completed G-17 on file as well, because claiming the wholesale rate without proper documentation shifts the tax liability back to the seller if the department audits the transaction.
What the Search Does Not Tell You
The lookup confirms that a GET license exists and shows its status and registered activities. It does not show whether the business is current on its periodic filings, whether it owes back tax, or whether any other permits or professional licenses are in place. For anything beyond the fact of GET registration, you will need to ask the business directly or contact the relevant agency.
If the Business Is Not Licensed
Any person or entity earning income from business activity in Hawaii must obtain a GET license before conducting that business. The statute treats the license as a “condition precedent” to operating. The license costs a one-time $20 fee, never expires on its own, and stays effective until the licensee cancels it in writing.3Justia Law. Hawaii Code 237-9 – Licenses; Penalty
Operating without a license carries a fine of up to $500. Cash-based businesses face a range of $500 to $2,000, set at the director’s discretion. These fines are separate from any penalties for unpaid tax and are waived only for good cause.3Justia Law. Hawaii Code 237-9 – Licenses; Penalty
How a Business Registers
If you ran the search because you are about to start a business and want to know how to get on the list yourself, you register by filing Form BB-1, the State of Hawaii Basic Business Application. There are three routes:
- Online at hitax.hawaii.gov, processed in roughly five business days.
- In person at a Department of Taxation office, with the Hawaii Tax ID issued immediately.
- By mail to Department of Taxation, P.O. Box 1425, Honolulu, HI 96806-1425, with processing of about three to four weeks.
The fee is $20, paid once. The license is not transferable, and it is valid only for the person or entity named on it at the specific business location listed. If a license is cancelled and the same operator later reapplies, the department treats that as a new license and charges another $20.3Justia Law. Hawaii Code 237-9 – Licenses; Penalty Once approved, the new license appears in the same lookup tool you used to run the search.