Guide for Uber drivers in Hawaii

Hawaii's General Excise Tax (GET), explained

The General Excise Tax, the GET or “GE tax”, is Hawaii’s tax on doing business. It’s owed on almost all the money a business takes in, before expenses, and driving for Uber or Lyft counts. Here’s how it works, from the Department of Taxation’s own pages.

What the GET is

The Department of Taxation calls the GET Hawaii’s tax on business activity. It’s owed on the gross income of virtually all business done in Hawaii: sales of goods and services, professional fees, rent, commissions, construction, and business interest.

Gross income means everything the business takes in, before any expenses. Unlike an income tax, nothing comes off for gas, car payments or supplies: only the exemptions and deductions the law sets out.

It isn’t a sales tax

A sales tax is a tax on customers, which businesses must collect. The GET is a tax on the business itself: a business owes it whether or not it charges its customers for it. More on the difference: Does Hawaii have a sales tax?

Who has to pay it

A person, a company or any other entity must register for a GE license, and file GET returns, if they:

• do business in Hawaii, services included;
• have a physical presence here, such as an office, employees, property, or services performed in Hawaii; or
• sell to Hawaii customers from out of state and pass the economic nexus threshold: $100,000 of gross income, or 200 transactions, in the current or the previous calendar year.

Driving for Uber or Lyft is a business in Hawaii’s eyes. The Department’s Tax Information Release 2025-01 says rideshare drivers owe GET on what they earn.

The rates

The rate depends on the activity, not the island:

Each county adds its surcharge only to income taxed at 4%. All four now charge 0.5%, through December 31, 2030: Honolulu (Oahu) since 2007, Kauai since 2019, Hawaii County since 2020 (0.25% in 2019), and Maui County since January 1, 2024. Some pages still say Maui has no surcharge: that changed in 2024.

Why receipts say 4.712%

A business may pass its GET on to customers, though it doesn’t have to. Because it owes GET on everything it takes in, the GET it charges included, the most it may add where its rate is 4.5% is 4.712%: $4.71 on a $100 sale. It must tell customers it’s adding it, it can’t charge more than the GET it will pay, and it can’t claim there’s no tax when there is. That last one can bring a fine of up to $1,000.

The GE license

You register with Form BB-1, the State’s Basic Business Application. The license costs $20, once, and doesn’t need renewing: it stays open until you close it, or until it’s revoked for going unused.

• Online at Hawaii Tax Online: your Hawaii Tax ID in 5 to 7 business days. The Department recommends this way.
• By mail: 4 to 6 weeks.
• In person at a Department of Taxation office: on the spot.

Display it at your place of business. Step by step, with what to choose for rideshare: How to get a GE license.

Returns and due dates

Every license holder files periodic returns on Form G-45 and an annual return on Form G-49. How often you file the G-45 depends on the GET you expect to owe in a year:

The G-49 sums up the year. For a calendar year, it’s due April 20 of the next year. A due date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day, and you file even for a period with no income, a “zero return”. What goes on each line: Forms G-45 and G-49.

Paying

The tax is due with the return, on the same date. You can pay:

• online through Hawaii Tax Online: free from your bank account, even without signing in, or by card for a fee;
• by mail, with a check or money order; or
• in person at a Department of Taxation office, the only place that takes cash.

Every way to pay, Pay Later and payment plans: How to pay your GE tax online. Filing, screen by screen: Filing your G-45 on Hawaii Tax Online.

Penalties and interest

• Filed late: 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25%.
• Filed on time but not paid: 20% of the tax still unpaid 60 days after the due date.
• Interest: 2/3 of 1% a month on unpaid tax and penalties, from the day after the due date.
• Not filing online when you must (more than $4,000 of GET a year), or not paying online when you must ($100,000 or more of tax a year): 2%.
• Part V of the return left incomplete, the part that says which island the income is from: 10%.

What it means for rideshare drivers

Tax Information Release 2025-01, from July 2025, sets out how rideshare is taxed. The app company and the driver each owe GET on their own sale:

• The app company pays 4.5% on what riders pay, apart from the tips it passes on to you. That doesn’t cover your GET.
• You pay 0.5% on your fares, as a wholesale service, and 4.5% on tips the rider chose to give, in the app or in cash.
• Bonuses and promotions aren’t in the release. The Department told GETdone by phone on October 1, 2026, that they’re taxed at 4.5%, on the same line as tips.

So $1,000 of fares and $100 of tips owe $5.00 and $4.50: $9.50, a little under 0.9% of what you earned. More: The GET rate for drivers · How much to set aside.

Just starting out? How to start driving for Uber and Lyft on Oahu.

Sources

Read on October 7, 2026. The Department’s pages are the final word: check them, and your tax professional, before you file.

• Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET) (Department of Taxation, updated August 27, 2026)
• General Excise Tax (GET) Information: FAQs
• Tax Facts 37-1, General Excise Tax (revised May 2025)
• County Surcharge on General Excise and Use Tax: maximum pass-on rates
• Tax Information Release 2025-01: GET obligations of rideshare companies and drivers

This guide explains the Department’s rules in plain words. It isn’t tax or legal advice.