Hawaii Tax Online (HITAX) walkthrough: filing G-45 + TA-1 as an STR owner

The Hawaii Department of Taxation portal at hitax.hawaii.govis the official filing surface for state taxes — including GE Tax (Form G-45/G-49) and Transient Accommodations Tax (Form TA-1/TA-2). It works. It is not pretty. Here's how to file an STR return in 10 minutes.

Before you start

You need:

• Your Hawaiʻi GE Tax license number (looks like GE-XXX-XXX-XXXX-01)
• Your Hawaii Tax Online username + password (set up once at first registration)
• Gross rental receipts for the period — total dollars billed to guests, before platform commissions or cleaning-fee deductions

Step 1 — Log in and pick the right account

If you have multiple business types (a side LLC + your STR), the portal shows each "account" on the post-login dashboard. Pick the GE/Excise account for GE Tax filing. The TA Tax account is separate — you'll switch later.

Step 2 — Find the period

Click "File a Return," then pick the period you're filing for. Important:the period you file is the period the income was earned, not the month you're filing in. April rental income means the April period, which you file by May 20.

Step 3 — Fill the form

Form G-45 is shorter than it looks. The fields that matter for an STR:

• Activity code — 723311 (transient accommodations / hotels) or 531311 (residential real estate, if you're renting on terms that qualify). Most STR owners use 723311.
• Gross income — total rental revenue for the period (the gross, before platform commissions).
• Tax rate — auto-filled from your business address: 4.5% on Maui/Oʻahu/Kauaʻi, 4.25% on Big Island.
• Tax due — gross × rate, auto-calculated.

Step 4 — Pay

ACH debit from a bank account is free. Credit card carries a ~2.4% processing fee. The portal accepts payment after submission; you don't need to pay before filing the return.

Step 5 — SAVE THE CONFIRMATION NUMBER

This is the single most-skipped step and the single most-important one for audit defense. The confirmation looks like HTO-20260418-12345. The portal emails it; also save a screenshot of the success page. Record it in your filing tracker (or PermitPaddler, which has a dedicated field for it and auto-suggests the tax owed from your gross at the right county rate).

Step 6 — Switch accounts, repeat for TA Tax

Form TA-1 is the same flow on a different account. Different rate (10.25% statewide, not county-varied). Different period selection. Same portal, separate login flow because TAT is administered as a distinct tax in HRS Chapter 237D.

Common errors people hit

• Filing the wrong period — you can't un-file. You can amend (Form G-45X), but it's painful.
• Reporting net instead of gross — auditors flag this. Always file on the gross rental price.
• Forgetting the county TAT — MCTAT / OTAT / HCTAT / KCTAT are filed via separate county portals, not on hitax.hawaii.gov.
• Missing the cleaning-fee question — if cleaning fees are part of the rental price (not separately stated), they're taxable. Don't exclude them.

Forgot to file last month? See our late-fee calculatorto know what you owe before logging in — Hawaii's penalty (HRS §231-39) is 5%/mo capped at 25% + interest at ~8%/yr compounding.