How to Complete and File Hawaii Form G-45: Rates, Deductions, and Filing

Hawaii Form G-45 is the periodic General Excise Tax return that every GET-licensed business uses to report gross income and pay tax to the Hawaii Department of Taxation. You report income broken out by activity type, apply the state rate for each activity plus your county surcharge, attach Schedule GE if you are claiming any deductions, and file by the 20th of the month after the filing period ends. Most businesses file monthly or quarterly, and returns can be submitted through Hawaii Tax Online or by mail.¹

What You Need Before You Start

Gather a few items before opening the form: your Hawaii Tax Identification Number (assigned when you registered for GET), your Federal Employer Identification Number or Social Security Number, and the tax period ending date. You also need a breakdown of gross receipts by activity, because the form separates income into categories like retailing, services, contracting, theater and amusement, commissions, and wholesaling. Each row carries its own tax rate.

Your filing frequency depends on how much GET you expect to owe in a year. Annual liability above $4,000 means monthly filing. $4,000 or less allows quarterly. $2,000 or less allows semiannual. The department sets your frequency when you register, and you can request a change when your revenue shifts. Whatever the frequency, the return is due on the 20th of the calendar month following the close of the period. A January monthly return is due February 20; a first-quarter return is due April 20.¹

You can download the current form from the Department of Taxation’s forms page or complete it inside the Hawaii Tax Online portal at hitax.hawaii.gov.² If your annual GET liability exceeds $4,000, electronic filing is mandatory. Paper filing when e-filing is required triggers a penalty of 2% of the tax due on that return, on top of any other penalties.³

GET Rates and County Surcharge

The state GET has three tiers, and the form uses separate line items for each so you enter gross income on the correct row.⁴

4% on retailing, services, contracting, commissions, and most other activities.
0.5% on wholesaling, manufacturing, producing, wholesale services, and use tax on imports for resale.
0.15% on insurance commissions.

Every county in Hawaii adds a 0.5% surcharge on activities taxed at the 4% state rate. The surcharge does not apply to 0.5% or 0.15% activities. As of 2026, the surcharge runs through December 31, 2030 in the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Hawaii, the County of Kauai, and the County of Maui. In practice, most retail and service businesses pay 4.5% total on taxable income in every county.⁵

Filling Out the Form

Header

At the top of the form, enter the tax period ending date, your Hawaii Tax ID number, your FEIN or SSN, your legal business name, and your mailing address. Darken the oval marking this as an original or amended return.

Parts I Through IV: Income and Tax

Part I through Part IV walk through the income-and-tax calculation. In the left column, enter your total gross proceeds or gross income for each activity category. The categories align with the rate tiers: retailing, services, contracting, and other activities at 4%; wholesaling and manufacturing at 0.5%; insurance commissions at 0.15%.

In the next column, enter allowable exemptions or deductions for each category. Subtract deductions from gross proceeds to get taxable income for each row, then multiply that taxable income by the applicable state rate. After computing state tax on every row, add the county surcharge in the designated section by multiplying taxable income for 4%-rate activities by 0.5%. Sum the state tax and surcharge amounts to reach total tax due.

Part V: District Assignment

Part V asks where you conducted business during the period. Darken the oval for a single taxation district if you operated in one, or mark “MULTI” and attach Form G-75 (Assignment of General Excise/Use Taxes by Districts) if you operated in more than one. Every filer must complete Part V. Skipping it triggers a penalty of 10% of the combined state and county surcharge taxes due on the return.¹

Deductions and Schedule GE

If you subtract any amount from gross proceeds, you must complete and attach Schedule GE (General Excise/Use Tax Schedule of Exemptions and Deductions). The department denies any claimed deductions that lack a supporting Schedule GE.⁶

Each deduction has a specific code number you enter on Schedule GE. Common ones include bad debts (code 104), out-of-state sales of tangible property (code 132), exported services (code 116), amounts received under Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE (code 160), and the sublease deduction for real property (code 126).⁷ The full code list covers dozens of statutory exemptions under HRS Chapter 237.⁸

One point that trips people up: most ordinary business expenses like supplies, materials, and rent are not deductible on the GET return.⁷ GET is a gross receipts tax, not an income tax. Deductions here are limited to specific statutory exclusions such as wholesale transactions that would otherwise be taxed twice, sales shipped out of state, or receipts covered by federal preemption. If you enter an amount that does not match a recognized code, expect the department to flag the return.

Use the most current version of Schedule GE. Filing an outdated version can result in disallowance of every exemption claimed on the return.¹ The totals on Schedule GE carry over to the deductions column on Form G-45, so the two documents must reconcile.

How to Submit and Pay

Through Hawaii Tax Online at hitax.hawaii.gov you can file the return, pay by electronic funds transfer, and receive an instant confirmation. Businesses with more than $4,000 in annual GET liability must use this method; paper returns from mandatory e-filers draw the 2% penalty.³

If your annual liability is $4,000 or less and you prefer paper, mail the completed form to:

Hawaii Department of Taxation
P.O. Box 1425
Honolulu, HI 96806-1425

Include a check or money order payable to “Hawaii State Tax Collector” for the amount due. Do not attach Form VP-1 when you send payment with a return. VP-1 is only for standalone payments sent without an accompanying tax return.⁹

Penalties and Interest

Late returns and unpaid balances add up. The late-filing penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax per month or part of a month, capped at 25%. Interest accrues separately at two-thirds of 1% per month on both unpaid tax and assessed penalties, starting the first calendar day after the payment deadline.¹⁰

Specific compliance failures carry their own charges. Failing to e-file when required costs 2% of the tax due on the return.³ Failing to complete Part V costs 10% of the combined state and county surcharge taxes due. Failing to attach Schedule GE causes every claimed exemption and deduction on the return to be denied.¹ These penalties stack.

Amending a G-45

If you find an error after filing, correct it by submitting an amended G-45. Darken the “Amended” oval at the top of page 1, then fill in the entire form with the correct figures. Do not fill in only the lines that changed. Leaving a line blank on an amended return resets that amount to zero.¹

There is one hard cutoff. You cannot file an amended G-45 for any period covered by a G-49 annual return that has already been filed. Once the annual reconciliation is in, corrections for that tax year go through the G-49 process instead.¹ If your amended return shows additional tax due and you file after the original deadline, penalty and interest are computed from that original due date.

The G-49 Annual Return Still Applies

Filing periodic G-45s does not end your obligations for the year. Every GET licensee must also file Form G-49, the Annual Return and Reconciliation, covering the full calendar year. The G-49 is due April 20 for calendar-year filers, and it reconciles your total annual gross income against the amounts reported on your periodic G-45s.¹

Annual returns for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020 must be filed electronically. No paper G-49s are accepted regardless of liability level.¹ If the G-49 shows you underpaid on periodic returns, pay the difference with the annual filing. If you overpaid, claim a refund or credit on the G-49.

Out-of-State Sellers

Businesses located outside Hawaii are not automatically exempt. Under Act 221, an out-of-state seller with $100,000 or more in gross income from Hawaii sources, or 200 or more separate transactions in the state during the current or preceding calendar year, is considered to be engaging in business in Hawaii and must register for and file GET returns.¹¹ Remote sellers who cross either threshold need a Hawaii Tax ID and file Form G-45 on the same schedule as local businesses, at the same rates, surcharges, and deadlines.

1
Hawaii Department of Taxation. General Instructions for Filing the General Excise/Use Tax Returns
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Department of Taxation. General Excise and Use Tax Forms
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. Mandatory Electronic Filing
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Department of Taxation. General Excise Tax (GET) Information
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. County Surcharge on General Excise and Use Tax
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. Schedule GE (Form G-45/G-49) – General Excise/Use Tax Schedule of Exemptions and Deductions
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. Schedule GE, General Excise/Use Tax Schedule of Exemptions and Deductions Instructions
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Hawaii State Legislature. Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 237 – General Excise Tax Law
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. VP-1 Tax Payment Voucher General Instructions
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Department of Taxation. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Hawaii Department of Taxation. Tax Information Release No. 2020-05