Hawaii GET license for a food truck: what owners need
The health permit lets you open. The state tax license lets you sell. Hawaii does not have a sales tax, so the paperwork has a different name, and the tax lands on you and not on your customer. Here is what the Department of Taxation says, in plain words.
Register for a General Excise Tax (GET) license with the Department of Taxation. It is a one-time $20 fee, and online it takes about a week. The tax is on your business. You may add it to the customer's total, but you do not have to. Then file returns on the schedule the state gives you.
Where this comes from
The state's General Excise Tax information page is the source for everything below, read on October 5, 2026. Tax rules and rates change, so treat this as a map and confirm with the Department of Taxation before you rely on it. We are a web design shop, not tax advisers.
It is not a sales tax
The state says it directly: "Hawaii does not have a sales tax; instead, we have the GET, which is assessed on all business activities." And the part that matters at the window: "The tax is on the business and not on the customer."
That is why a truck owner cannot think of it as money the customer handed over. It is a cost of your business, and it is owed whether or not you showed it on the receipt.
Showing it on the receipt is your choice
The state says a seller "may choose to visibly pass on the GE and any applicable county surcharge to its customers, but is not required to do so." If you do add it, the state lists the maximum pass-on rate for Maui as 4.7120 percent.
| Item | What the state says |
|---|---|
| State rate, most business activity | 4 percent |
| Maui County surcharge | 0.5 percent, from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2030 |
| Maximum pass-on rate on Maui | 4.7120 percent |
The state lists 4.7120 percent as the most you may show a customer. Ask the Department of Taxation how to price your menu and how to show the line, rather than working it out from this table.
How to register
- The fee is "a one-time $20 fee". The state notes that additional fees may apply depending on which tax licenses you need.
- Register online through Hawaii Tax Online, or complete Form BB-1, or go to a Department of Taxation district office.
- Online, the state says to expect results in 5 to 7 days. By mail or drop-off, 4 to 6 weeks. In person, you get your Hawaii Tax ID immediately.
Do the registration before your first sale, not after. If your opening day is a week away, the in-person route is the one that does not leave you waiting.
When the returns are due
The state says businesses file monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, and the due date is the 20th day of the month after the period closes. Annual returns are due April 20 for calendar-year filers. The page does not say which schedule you will be given, so ask when you register.
Put those dates in your phone the day you get the license. A late return is a bad way to learn what the schedule was.
After the license
The tax license is one more thing off the list. The health permit steps come first, and then people have to find you. We wrote about why "food trucks near me" never shows your truck and about typing out your menu instead of posting a photo. Both are free to fix. A website is the part that we sell, and you can see the sites we have built for Maui trucks first.
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