Guide for Uber drivers in Hawaii

How much to set aside for GET as an Uber driver

The easiest way to never be surprised by a General Excise Tax bill: move a small share of every Uber deposit into an account of its own as it arrives. Here’s how to find your share, and how to make it move by itself.

Your effective GET rate

Fares are taxed at 0.5% and tips and bonuses at 4.5%, so the GET on everything you earn lands somewhere in between. That share is your effective GET rate: the GET on your returns divided by the income on them.

Say you earn $1,000 in fares and $100 in tips: that’s $5.00 plus $4.50, $9.50 of GET on $1,100, or 0.87% rounded up. Put 0.87% of every deposit aside and each return is covered. The more of your pay is tips and bonuses, the higher your rate: how the rates work.

GETdone works yours out from your Uber Tax Summaries, free: it’s the “Set aside for GET” figure in Step 3, rounded up so it always covers.

Why a share of deposits works

• Your deposits are your income. GET is owed on what Uber pays you, not on what riders pay Uber, so a share of each deposit tracks your GET closely.
• Reimbursements add a little. Tolls and fees Uber pays back aren’t income, so a share of every deposit covers a bit more than the GET.
• Cash tips never reach the bank. They’re taxed like app tips, so deposit them into the same account, or set aside their 4.5% yourself.
• Your rate moves. A month with more tips or bonuses raises it. Check it after each period and adjust.

Make it automatic

Many business accounts can move a percentage of each deposit for you. Mercury, for example, has percentage-based auto-transfer rules that move a share of each incoming transaction into another account. Point one at a savings account named for GET and it fills itself; when a return is due, pay it from there. GETdone’s founder, an Oahu Uber driver, sets GET aside this way.

Check that your bank takes your kind of business. Mercury’s FAQ says customers must be formed and registered in the United States, and Mercury calls itself a fintech company, not a bank: its banking services come through partner banks. If your bank has no auto-transfer, a weekly reminder to move the share by hand works too.

When you pay it

Twice-a-year filers pay by July 20 (for January to June) and January 20 (for July to December), and the annual G-49 settles the year by April 20. A return filed on time but unpaid 60 days after its due date adds a 20% penalty, so having the money waiting matters. More on the returns.

Income tax is separate

This share is for GET only. Income tax on what you earn driving is a different tax, with its own share to set aside: ask your tax professional what yours should be.

Sources

Read on October 6, 2026. The Department’s pages are the final word: check them, and your tax professional, before you file.

• Tax Information Release 2025-01: GET obligations of rideshare companies and drivers
• Instructions for Forms G-45 and G-49 (REV. 2025): due dates and penalties
• Mercury: Setting up auto transfer rules
• Mercury: How percentage-based auto transfer rules are calculated
• Mercury FAQ: who can open an account

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