Homeowners in Hawaii pay property tax that is calculated at different rates for owner occupants and non occupants. If you own and occupy the property as your principal home, defined as "the place where an individual has a true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment and to which place the individual has, whenever absent, the intention of returning, and it is the place in which a person has voluntarily fixed their habitation, not for mere special, temporary, or vacation purposes, but with the intention of making a permanent home", you are classified in the Homeowner Class. If your property is not used exclusively for residential purposes, you are in the Improved Residential Class.
If you qualify for the Homeowner Class, you are eligible for the Home Exemption if you meet the following two criteria. First, your ownership of the property must be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances on or before December 31 preceding the tax year for which the exemption is claimed. If you own lease property, there must be 10 or more years remaining on the lease in order to qualify. The second requirement is that you file Form 19-71 for the home exemption on or before December 31 preceding the tax year for which you are claiming the exemption.
Every owner-occupied property is entitled to the basic home exemption:
Basic Home Exemption = $40,000
The basic home exemption is deducted from the assessed value of your property to arrive at the net taxable value for the property. Senior citizens who are 60 years or older are eligible to apply for a multiple exemption to ease their tax burden. The multiple home exemption is determined as follows:
| Age 60 to 69 |
Exemption = 2 X basic home exemption Exemption = 2 X $40,000 = $80,000 |
| Age 70 or over |
Exemption = 2½ X basic home exemption Exemption = 2½ X 40,000 = $100,000 |
To obtain the multiple home exemption, a taxpayer must be 60 years of age on or before January 1, preceding the tax year for which the exemption is claimed and submit form 19-71 on or before December 31 of the year preceding the tax year in which the exemption will take effect. A copy of your driver's license or some other proof of your date of birth must accompany the form. Forms must be postmarked by December 31.
Claims for exemptions may also be filed by totally disabled veterans, Hansen's disease victims, the blind, deaf and totally disabled, and charitable organizations using their property for non-profit purposes.
For more information on tax exemptions, call or visit the tax office in Kona at 75-5706 Kuakini Hwy., Suite 112, (808) 327-3540 or in Hilo at 865 Pi'ilani St., (808) 961-8201.
Forms can be downloaded from their site at http://www.hawaiipropertytax.com
| Assessments |
New assessment cards come out every March for the following year. Example: 3/2003 assessments are for assessed period 7/1/2003 to 6/30/2004. |
Tax Rates
Hawaii County Council votes on tax rates every June.
Current rates - Owner Occupied
$5.55/$1,000 of assessed value
Current rates - Investor $9.10/$1,000 of assessed value
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Property taxes are collected twice during the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. The first installment covers taxes due from July 1 through December 31 and is due on August 20, and the second installment covers taxes due from January 1 through June 30 and is due on February 20.
