Hawaii has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 1.40 percent to 11.00 percent. Hawaii has a graduated corporate income tax, with rates ranging from 4.4 percent to 6.4 percent, a 4.00 percent state sales tax rate, and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 4.50 percent. Hawaii has a 0.29 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value. Hawaii does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. Hawaii’s statewide gas tax is 18.75 cents per gallon, but every county also levies its own local option gas tax. Hawaii’s cigarette excise tax is $3.60 per pack of 20 cigarettes.
Hawaii raises tax revenue primarily through general sales taxes (37.5 percent of total state and local tax revenue), individual income taxes (22.0 percent), and other taxes (20.0 percent). Hawaii collects $9,758 in state and local tax collections per capita, carries $14,149 in state and local debt per capita, and has a 63 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Hawaii’s tax system ranks 41st overall on the 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and Hawaii is no exception. Use the tabs below to compare Hawaii taxes with other states and to see how Hawaii raises tax revenue. You can also browse our tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2026: How Does Your State Compare?
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The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
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Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
9 min read
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for nearly a quarter of combined state and local tax collections.
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Forty-four states levy a corporate income tax, with top rates ranging from a 2 percent flat rate in North Carolina to an 11.5 percent top marginal rate in New Jersey. Four states—Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania—reduced their corporate income tax rates effective January 1, 2026.
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Property taxes are the primary tool for financing local governments. While no taxpayers in high-tax jurisdictions will be celebrating their yearly payments, property taxes are largely rooted in the benefit principle of taxation: the people paying the property tax bills are most often the ones benefiting from the services.
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Short FormWorking from home is great. The tax complications? Not so much.
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One particular provision of the Biden administration’s proposal to ban so-called “junk fees” would have unintended consequences.
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Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections).
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Graduated corporate rates are inequitable—that is, the size of a corporation bears no necessary relation to the income levels of the owners.
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Thirty-four states will ring in the new year with notable tax changes, including 15 states cutting individual or corporate income taxes (and some cutting both).
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People respond to incentives. As tax rates increase or products are banned from sale, consumers and producers search for ways around these penalties and restrictions.
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Contrary to initial expectations, the pandemic years were good for state and local tax collections, and while the surges of 2021 and 2022 have not continued into calendar year 2023, revenues remain robust in most states and well above pre-pandemic levels even after accounting for inflation.
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The latest IRS and Census data show that people and businesses favor states with low and structurally sound tax systems, which can impact the state’s economic growth and governmental coffers.
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To alleviate the regressive impact on wireless consumers, states should examine their existing communications tax structures and consider policies that transition their tax systems away from narrowly based wireless taxes and toward broad-based tax sources.
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