How to Start an LLC in Hawaii: Form LLC-1, an EIN and the GET License

By Boost Suite Editorial Team|Updated October 20, 2026

It takes $71 in state fees and two offices to start an LLC in Hawaii: $51 for Form LLC-1 at the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), then $20 for the general excise tax (GET) license at the Hawaii Department of Taxation.

How to start an LLC in Hawaii, in the order Tax Facts 31-1 sets

Hawaii has no Secretary of State filing for businesses. The requirements and their order come from the Department of Taxation’s Tax Facts 31-1:

1. DCCA: file Form LLC-1

   $51 with the Business Registration Division, online on Hawaii Business Express.

2. IRS: get the EIN

   The Internal Revenue Service issues the employer identification number free, at once online. Form BB-1's instructions ask for it from every business except a sole proprietorship without employees.

3. Department of Taxation: GET license

   Form BB-1 on Hawaii Tax Online, $20 once, with a Hawaii Tax ID.

4. Labor and Industrial Relations, if hiring

   Employers register there too.

Applying for the GET license first under an owner’s Social Security number leaves a mismatch the published guidance doesn’t resolve, so the EIN comes before Taxation.

The Hawaii Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) on Hawaii Business Express

Hawaii moved business filings to Hawaii Business Express (hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov) on July 6, 2026; the DCCA’s own LLC page still links to the old address, hbe.ehawaii.gov. Creating an LLC there starts with a myHawaii login.

The instructions are explicit: “The limited liability company cannot be its own registered agent,” and the agent must be physically present in Hawaii.

The $50 filing fee isn’t refundable; only the $1 archives fee can be refunded, by the State Archives, if the filing is rejected.

Expedited review is suspended on the new portal: “At this time, expedited processing is not available” (portal FAQ), even though the fee schedule still lists it at $25. No filing service can buy a faster review either.

The only time limit in writing is HAR § 16-36-5.5: a completed filing is accepted or rejected within 90 days, extendable by up to 90 more, then accepted automatically.

Paper filings go to the Business Registration Division by mail (P.O. Box 40, Honolulu, HI 96810), in person (335 Merchant Street, Room 201), by email or by fax, typed or printed and signed in black ink. Email and fax filings are paid by card.

Names Hawaii won’t register, and the T-1 trade name

The portal’s name search “should not be used as a definitive method to determine name availability”; the Business Registration Division decides at review.

Its rules (HAR § 16-36-15) treat names as substantially identical when they differ only by:

• numbers written out or as digits, or sound-alike words;
• the entity suffix, punctuation or abbreviations;
• “the,” “da,” “ka,” “ke,” “na” or “la”;
• “Hawaii,” “of Hawaii” or “HI” at the end.

Names that are only a place or landmark, such as “Honolulu,” “Diamond Head” or “Pearl Harbor,” aren’t accepted. Words such as “bank,” “trust,” “insurance,” “CPA,” “cooperative” and “escrow” are regulated. A Reservation of Name holds one for 120 days ($10).

Hawaii’s DBA filing is a trade name registration (Form T-1): $50 plus the $1 archives fee, for five years, renewable. It “DOES NOT grant you ownership” of the name, and no reminder comes before it expires.

Article 6 decides whose names and addresses go public

The LLC-1 instructions state that all business registration filings are open to public inspection, citing HRS § 92F-11. Which names and addresses land on that record depends on the management choice.

Members’ rights, profit shares and exits aren’t on Form LLC-1; they go in a Hawaii LLC operating agreement, which isn’t filed.

The GET license and the tax on gross receipts

Under Tax Facts 31-1, “All LLCs (including disregarded entities) must obtain its own GET license, file tax returns, and pay GET on its gross business income.” It’s the state license every Hawaii business needs; some businesses, such as restaurants and childcare providers, also deal with other agencies and their county.

“Hawaii does not have a sales tax; instead, we have the GET” (GET FAQ). It’s levied on gross receipts, so it’s owed without profit:

• 4% for most activities, 0.5% for wholesaling, manufacturing and producing, 0.15% for insurance commissions;
• each county adds 0.5% to the 4% rate, set to run through December 31, 2030;
• periodic returns are due the 20th of the month after each period, the annual return by April 20.

Income tax follows the federal classification: “an LLC with more than one member (including two spouses) is treated as a partnership while a single-member LLC is treated as a disregarded entity.” A disregarded LLC’s income goes on the owner’s personal tax return.

The first annual report comes the year after

No annual report is due in the year the LLC registers. After that, the Hawaii annual report costs $12.50 online or $15 on paper, filed in the quarter the LLC registered. Each late year adds $10, and two years without a report lead to administrative termination.

Cost, licenses and timing in Hawaii