How to Get a Hawaii Tax ID Number and GET License

To get a Hawaii Tax ID number and GET license, you file Form BB-1 (the State of Hawaii Basic Business Application) with the Department of Taxation and pay a one-time $20 fee. Apply in person at a district office and you can walk out with your Tax ID the same day. Apply online through Hawaii Tax Online and you’ll have it in about five business days. Mail applications take three to four weeks. The Tax ID and the General Excise Tax license are the same number: registering for GET is what issues it.¹

The GET is not a sales tax. It’s a tax on your gross business receipts, and it applies to almost every kind of commercial activity in the state, so nearly anyone earning income from a Hawaii business needs the license before they start.

Who Has to Register

Anyone receiving income from business activity in Hawaii needs a GET license. That covers retailers, service providers, contractors, wholesalers, farmers, and freelancers. It also covers landlords: if you rent out a house, a spare room, a condo, or a vacation property in Hawaii, the state treats you as running a taxable business.²

Short-term rental operators (stays under 180 consecutive days) need two licenses, not one. Along with GET, you have to register for a Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) license and file separate TAT returns.²

You don’t need a physical presence in Hawaii to owe GET. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Hawaii can require remote sellers to register once they cross $100,000 in annual sales into the state or 200 separate transactions. Exceed either number and you need the license.

What to Gather Before You Fill Out Form BB-1

Form BB-1 asks for enough detail that it’s worth pulling everything together first.³ You’ll need:

Your Federal Employer Identification Number, or your Social Security Number if you’re a sole proprietor without an FEIN.
Your business’s legal name and any trade or “doing business as” name.
Your entity type: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC, nonprofit, or other.
Your six-digit NAICS code for your principal business activity. The Census Bureau’s website has the lookup.
Your physical business address and mailing address.
Names, ID numbers, home addresses, and phone numbers for the sole proprietor, partners, corporate officers, or LLC members.
The date your business started or will start operating in Hawaii.
Your preferred GET filing frequency (see below).

The form also asks which licenses you want. Most applicants check “General Excise/Use.” Short-term rental operators also check “Transient Accommodations.”

The Three Ways to File

How you submit BB-1 directly controls how fast you get your Tax ID.³

In Person (Same Day)

Bring your completed BB-1 and a $20 check or money order payable to “Hawaii State Tax Collector” to any Department of Taxation district office. You’ll get your Hawaii Tax ID number on the spot. The Department runs offices on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kauai, and both the Hilo and Kona sides of the Big Island.⁴

Online (About Five Business Days)

Register through Hawaii Tax Online at hitax.hawaii.gov. Create an account, go to the business registration section, and enter the same information BB-1 asks for. Processing takes roughly five business days.¹

By Mail (Three to Four Weeks)

Print and complete Form BB-1, attach Form VP-1 (the payment voucher) with your $20 check or money order, and mail everything to:

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

Plan on three to four weeks. If you need to start invoicing sooner, use one of the other two methods.

What It Costs

The GET license is a flat $20, paid once. It doesn’t expire and there’s no annual renewal.⁵ A Transient Accommodations Tax license, if you need one, adds $5 for one to five rental units or $15 for six or more.³

Choosing Your Filing Frequency

You pick your filing period on the BB-1. Monthly is the default. You can file less often if your expected annual GET liability stays under these thresholds:

Quarterly filing: annual liability of $4,000 or less.
Semiannual filing: annual liability of $2,000 or less.

If your liability later grows past the threshold, the Department will move you to a more frequent schedule.

Once registered, you file Form G-45 for each period and Form G-49 as an annual reconciliation, even for periods when you earned nothing. G-45 is due by the 20th of the month after each filing period closes. G-49 is due by the 20th day of the fourth month after your tax year ends, which is April 20th for calendar-year filers.⁶

What Happens If You Skip Registration

Operating without a license doesn’t erase the tax. The Department can assess back GET, penalties, and interest for every period you should have been filing:⁷

Failure to file: 5% of the unpaid tax per month or partial month, capped at 25%.
Interest: two-thirds of 1% per month, running from the day after the payment deadline.

These stack. Six months of non-filing can produce the full 25% penalty plus accumulated interest on every dollar of GET owed.

Closing the License When You’re Done

If you stop doing business in Hawaii, cancel the license rather than just walking away from the returns. You can close it through Hawaii Tax Online or by submitting Form GEW-TA-RV-1, and you should file a final G-49 to reconcile the year through your last day of business.⁵ An open license with no returns coming in eventually generates penalty and collection notices, even if the business earned nothing.

1
Hawaii Department of Taxation. General Excise Tax (GET) Information
2
Department of Taxation. Renting Residential Real Property
3
Hawaii Department of Taxation. Form BB-1 Rev 2025 State of Hawaii Basic Business Application
4
Department of Taxation. Contact Us
5
Department of Taxation. Licensing Information
6
Hawaii Department of Taxation. General Instructions for Filing the General Excise Use Tax Returns
7
Hawaii Department of Taxation. Frequently Asked Questions