Hawaii Sales Tax Calculator (GET)
Calculate Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET) for all four counties. Hawaii has no traditional sales tax — learn how GET works and calculate your total for Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai.
About the Hawaii Sales Tax Calculator (GET)
Hawaii is unique in the US — it has no traditional sales tax. Instead, businesses pay a General Excise Tax (GET) on their gross income, which they legally pass on to consumers. The effective GET rate consumers see is 4.5% on Oahu, 4.5% on Maui, 4.5% on Kauai, and 4.25% on the Big Island.
Unlike a sales tax that's only on the final consumer purchase, the GET applies at every level of production and commerce — from raw materials to wholesale to retail — making it a pyramiding tax embedded in prices at every stage.
How Hawaii's GET differs from regular sales tax
A traditional sales tax is imposed only at the point of retail sale. Hawaii's GET is imposed on the business at each stage of the supply chain — a farmer pays GET on sales to a distributor; the distributor pays GET on sales to a retailer; the retailer pays GET on sales to the consumer. Each layer's GET is built into prices. The consumer-visible rate appears similar to a sales tax, but the economic structure is entirely different.
GET rates by county and transaction type
The Hawaii state GET base rate is 4%. Honolulu County (Oahu) adds a 0.5% surcharge for the rail transit project, making the effective rate 4.5%. Maui County and Kauai County also levy 0.5% surcharges. The Big Island (Hawaii County) has a 0.25% surcharge. Wholesale transactions have a reduced 0.5% rate. The surcharges are temporary but have been repeatedly extended.
What the GET applies to in Hawaii
The GET applies to nearly all business activity: retail sales, services, contracting, rentals, commissions, and more. Most food from grocery stores is exempt. Prescription drugs are exempt. Some professional services may have reduced rates. Notably, hotel rooms are subject to the GET plus an additional Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) of 10.25%, making Hawaii lodging tax one of the highest in the US.