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Honolulu County · Hawaii

Honolulu sales tax rate (HI)

Hawaii's 4.5% is a general excise tax on the seller, not a sales tax — businesses commonly pass through 4.712% on Oahu to cover tax on the tax.

Ten dollar bills on a dark surface, illustrating state sales tax rates

Quick answer

The combined sales tax rate in Honolulu, HI is 4.5% as of January 1, 2026 — 4% state + 0.5% county. On a $100 purchase that is $4.50 in tax, for a total of $104.50. Hawaii's statewide base is 4%.

Verified against state tableEffective January 1, 2026 · rank 89 of 94 covered metros
Combined rate
4.5%
State share
4%
Local share
0.5%County + city + districts
Tax on $100
$4.50

Calculate Honolulu sales tax

Pre-filled with the Honolulu combined rate.

Sales tax calculator

The full combined rate of 4.5% applies to general merchandise.

Enter a pre-tax amount to see the tax due in Honolulu, HI.

Pre-tax
$100
Sales tax at 4.5%
$4.50
Total
$104.50

Tax is rounded to the nearest cent on the full transaction, which is how most registers compute it. Line-item rounding can differ by a cent or two on long receipts.

Is 4.5% high?

Where Honolulu sits against the state and the covered-metro median, in points and in dollars.

vs covered median
-3.45 ptsMedian 7.95%
Local share
11%0.5% of the total
Cost per household
$1,170Per year on $26,000 taxable spend
Jurisdiction layers
2Stacked into the combined rate

4.5% in Honolulu — low. It ranks 89 of 94 covered metros, -3.45 pts against the 7.95% median. On $26,000 of taxable household spending that is $1,170 a year, $897 below it.

Local government sets 0.5% of the total, 11% of the bill; the state takes 4%. 2 layers stack: Hawaii general excise tax 4%, Oahu county surcharge 0.5%. The Oahu county surcharge increment at 0.5% is the largest local piece — 100% of everything local, worth $130 a year on its own.

No other covered metro sits within 0.05 points of 4.5%. Honolulu is an outlier in the national distribution, which usually means a district measure the surrounding region never adopted.

Scale: 350,964 residents, roughly 140,386 households. At $26,000 of taxable spend each, the 0.5% local share pulls about $18,250,180 a year from residents alone — before any visitor or business spending, which in a metro this size is where the rest comes from.

Hawaii's 4.5% is a general excise tax on the seller, not a sales tax — businesses commonly pass through 4.712% on Oahu to cover tax on the tax.

Rates move when a district measure passes or a local option expires. Confirm the current figure with the Hawaii Department of Taxation before filing or quoting it to a customer.

Jurisdiction breakdown

Every layer that makes up the combined rate, and how much of the total each one contributes.

Sales tax rate composition for Honolulu, HI: 4% Hawaii general excise tax, 0.5% Oahu county surcharge, totalling 4.5%.
Sales tax rate components for Honolulu, HI
JurisdictionLevelRateShare of total
Hawaii general excise taxstate4%
89%
Oahu county surchargecounty0.5%
11%
Combined rate4.5%
Source: Hawaii Department of Taxation rate tables · rates as published for 2026

Honolulu sales tax reference table

Tax due at 4.5% on common purchase amounts.

Tax due at 4.5% for common purchase amounts
PurchaseSales taxTotal
$10$0.45$10.45
$25$1.13$26.13
$50$2.25$52.25
$100$4.50$104.50
$500$22.50$522.50
$1,000$45.00$1045.00
$5,000$225.00$5225.00
$25,000$1125.00$26125.00

Reverse out sales tax

Enter a receipt total and we split the item price from the 4.5% tax collected.

Backing out 4.5% for Honolulu, HI.

Item price before tax
$100
Sales tax collected
$4.50

What this rate applies to

Hawaii publishes the taxable base separately from the rate. Groceries, prescription drugs, clothing and services are treated differently state to state, and several categories in Hawaii are taxed at reduced rates or exempt entirely. Hawaii's 4.5% is a general excise tax on the seller, not a sales tax — businesses commonly pass through 4.712% on Oahu to cover tax on the tax. Check the Hawaii Department of Taxation guidance for the category you are pricing before assuming 4.5% applies.

Honolulu at a glance

Population
350,964
Median household income
$88,894
County
Honolulu County
ZIP codes covered
9
Honolulu demographicsZIP codesSeller registration

Neighboring districts tax profiles

The closest covered jurisdictions by county and ZIP sectional centre, with the rate difference against this metro.

Compare Honolulu with another metro

Side-by-side rate stacks and the dollar difference on a $1,000 purchase.

    Cities near Honolulu

    Straight-line distance, estimated drive time and the rate charged there.

    All metros within 250 miles of Honolulu →

    Download this metro's data

    The Honolulu jurisdiction stack, combined rate (4.5%), effective date and Census figures are published as open files. Free to use with attribution — no key, no signup.

    Download CSV data fileHonolulu JSON endpointFull rate set (JSON)

    Other Honolulu datasets on this site.

    Statewide: Hawaii cities · Hawaii ZIP codes · Hawaii sales tax · Hawaii counties