Free guide · 2026 edition
The Hawaiʻi Small Business Digital Checklist
What you owe the State and when, what other Hawaiʻi businesses actually pay for a website, and the ten-minute test that shows where you are losing customers after you close.
Written for owner-operated businesses on Oʻahu. Every figure is sourced to a State of Hawaiʻi page, linked at the end.
1. What you owe the State, and when
Most owners learn these in the wrong order: from a delinquency notice.
Your annual report is due on a date nobody tells you
Hawaiʻi has no single common deadline. Your due date is set by the calendar quarter you registered in, and it repeats every year.
| You registered in | Annual report due |
|---|---|
| January – March | March 31 |
| April – June | June 30 |
| July – September | September 30 |
| October – December | December 31 |
File any time during that quarter. Online filing costs $12.50.
Which form depends on what changed. Moving to a different agent is Form X-7. If the same agent simply moved, it is Form X-8. Filing the wrong one costs $25 and fixes nothing.
If you fall behind
The late fee is $10 per delinquent year, which is mild. The real risk is further out: after two years of unfiled annual reports the State may administratively terminate an LLC or dissolve a corporation. It is not automatic and there is notice first, but it is a real outcome.
General Excise Tax, in one paragraph
Hawaiʻi has no sales tax. It has GET, levied on the business, not the customer. The state rate is 4.0%. On Oʻahu a county surcharge of 0.5% brings it to 4.5%. You may visibly pass on up to 4.712%, and that is not a different tax rate. It is the maximum you may add at the register so you still net 4.5% after being taxed on the surcharge itself.
You need a GET licence before doing business: a one-time $20 registration on Form BB-1, not an annual renewal.
2. What a website actually costs here
Quotes for the same work vary by more than ten times in this market. Knowing the range is most of the negotiation.
| Route | Typical cost | What you are really buying |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | $16–$49/mo | Cheapest, and you are the web team. Fine for a brochure page, weak once booking has to talk to your calendar. |
| Budget local package | ~$499 once + ~$49/mo | A real site, usually templated, often billed per extra page. Ask what a change costs in month seven. |
| Local agency build | $3,000–$10,000+ | Custom design and build. Ask whether the person you meet is the person who builds it. |
| AI phone answering | ~$29–$500/mo | Priced per minute or per call. Cheap tiers run out fast if you are genuinely busy. |
Three questions that cost a vendor nothing to answer
- Who owns the site if I leave? If the answer is not “you do, and we hand over the files and the domain”, you are renting.
- What is the charge for a text change? A vague answer becomes a $150 invoice for fixing a phone number.
- Who actually writes the code? Worth knowing before, not after.
3. The after-hours test
Ten minutes on your own phone, as if you were a customer who found you at 9pm on a Sunday. Score one point per box you can honestly tick.
Being found
- Search your business name on your phone. Your own site is first, not a directory.
- Your Google Business Profile shows current hours, including holidays.
- The phone number on Google matches the one on your site.
The first ten seconds
- The site loads in under three seconds on cellular, not wifi.
- What you do and where you are is readable without scrolling.
- Tapping the phone number dials. Tapping the address opens Maps.
Booking and enquiries
- A customer can book or request an appointment without calling you.
- Send yourself a message through your own contact form, right now.
- It arrived. Check spam too.
- The customer got a confirmation, so they know it worked.
- Someone would see that enquiry before the next business day.
After you close
- A missed call gets an automatic text back with a way to book.
- An enquiry at 9pm gets an acknowledgement before morning.
- You could say how many enquiries you got last month without guessing.
12–14: your setup works. Spend on getting more traffic, not on rebuilding.
8–11: customers are reaching you, some slip at the edges. Fix the specific misses.
Under 8: you are paying for attention you are not catching. Fix capture before spending another dollar on ads.
Want the printable version?
Send yourself the checklist as a one-page PDF you can tick off, and I’ll email you if the State changes a fee or a deadline in this guide. Nothing else.
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If your score was under 8
Most of what drags a score down is an afternoon of work, not a rebuild. If you want a second pair of eyes, I do a free 20-minute audit: we look at where enquiries are slipping and you leave with a written plan, whether or not you hire me. If your setup is already fine, I will tell you that.
Sources
- Annual report deadlines, fees and late penalty — DCCA Business Registration Division, cca.hawaii.gov/breg
- Registered agent forms X-7 and X-8 — cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/dpc/forms
- Administrative termination after two years — HRS §428-809
- GET rates, county surcharge and the 4.712% pass-on — tax.hawaii.gov/geninfo/get
- Pricing ranges — published rates of Hawaiʻi web providers and AI answering services, surveyed 2026
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and fees change. Confirm anything you rely on with the State of Hawaiʻi before filing.