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Taxes for Uber and Lyft drivers in Hawaii: the three to know

Driving for Uber or Lyft in Hawaii brings three taxes: federal income tax with self-employment tax, Hawaii income tax, and Hawaii’s General Excise Tax. Here’s what each one is and when it’s due, from the IRS’s and the Department of Taxation’s own pages.

General information from the IRS’s and the Department of Taxation’s own pages, not advice for your situation. Ask a tax professional about your own taxes.

The three at a glance

Tax	Taxed on	The return
Federal income tax and self-employment taxto the IRS	Your profit: what you earned, less business expenses	Form 1040, with Schedules C and SE, by April 15
Hawaii income taxto the Department of Taxation	Your Hawaii income, your driving profit included	Form N‑11 (residents), by April 20
General Excise Tax (GET)to the Department of Taxation	Your gross income from driving: nothing comes off for expenses	Forms G‑45 through the year, and G‑49 by April 20

Dates are for a calendar year’s return, due the next spring; one on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day. As a self-employed driver, nothing is taken out of your pay for any of the three, so each can mean payments during the year.

1. Federal income tax and self-employment tax

The IRS calls driving for an app “gig work”. Done as an independent contractor, it makes you self-employed. From the IRS’s page on gig work:

All of it is income. Gig income must be reported even if no Form 1099 shows it, and whether it’s paid through the app or in cash.
A return from $400. You must file one if your net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more.
Self-employment tax is Social Security and Medicare for the self-employed. Its rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.
The forms: Form 1040, with Schedule C for your business’s profit or loss and Schedule SE for the self-employment tax. It’s due April 15.
Expenses lower it. Deducting certain business expenses lowers what you owe, so the IRS says to keep your records and receipts through the year. Its Publication 463 covers car expenses.
Estimated tax. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, you generally pay estimated tax four times a year, on Form 1040-ES: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15.
The forms the apps send. A platform may send a Form 1099-K or 1099-NEC by January 31. It must send a 1099-K once payments pass $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and may send one for less. Whatever arrives, all your income goes on the return.

2. Hawaii income tax

From the instructions for Form N-11, the return for Hawaii residents:

The return: Form N-11, due April 20. Filing is extended six months automatically, but the tax is still due April 20.
Estimated tax: self-employment income isn’t subject to withholding, so you may have to pay during the year. In most cases you must if you expect to owe at least $500 after withholding and credits, and those will cover less than 60% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, whichever is smaller.
When: April 20, June 20, September 20 and January 20, each with Form N-200V, or online at Hawaii Tax Online.

3. The General Excise Tax

Hawaii’s tax on doing business, and the one GETdone works out. It isn’t an income tax: it’s owed on gross income, so nothing comes off for gas, the car or your phone. Under Tax Information Release 2025-01, fares are taxed at 0.5% and tips, in the app or in cash, at 4.5%. The Department told GETdone by phone on October 1, 2026, that bonuses are taxed at 4.5% too. You need a GE license, and you file G-45s through the year and a G-49 after it.

How they differ

Expenses lower your federal and Hawaii income taxes. They don’t lower your GET, which is on what you take in.
The calendars overlap. April 20 brings both the Hawaii income tax return and the year’s G-49, and January 20 a Hawaii estimated payment and, for drivers who file twice a year, the July to December G-45.
Where you file: the federal return with the IRS; both Hawaii taxes on Hawaii Tax Online.

Where GETdone fits

GETdone works out your General Excise Tax, from Uber’s documents and the Lyft or HoloHolo income you type in. It doesn’t work out income taxes. Its summary for your tax professional lists your income by month, which they can use for the income taxes too. For your income taxes, ask a tax professional, or start at the IRS’s and the Department’s pages listed below.

Start with the one only Hawaii has

Drop in your Uber Tax Summaries and GETdone works out your GET for every period, free. Nothing is uploaded.

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Sources

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

This guide sets out what the IRS and the Department of Taxation say, in plain words. It isn’t tax or legal advice, and GETdone isn’t affiliated with Uber, Lyft, HoloHolo, the IRS or the State of Hawaii.