Updates for Taxpayers

Tax Year 2024 Deadline and Extension

Taxpayers must file their income tax returns by April 21, 2025. Although the law require taxpayers to file by April 21, taxpayers are granted an automatic 6-month extension (no form is required to request the extension) to file the return through October 21, 2025, if one of these two conditions is met:

  1. The taxpayer is due a refund, or
  2. The taxpayer pays the properly estimated tax amount owed by April 21, 2025.

Increased Standard Deductions

The standard deduction amounts increased for the taxable year that began January 1, 2024, as follows:

  • $8,800 for Joint or Surviving Spouse;
  • $6,424 for Head of Household; or
  • $4,400 for Single or Married Filing Separately.

Pass-Through Entity Taxation

Important changes have been made to the Pass-Through Entity (PTE) tax laws and rules.

Act 50, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2024, amends the tax base by imposing the tax on the sum of the distributive shares and guaranteed payments of all “qualified members,” which is defined as all members of an electing PTE that are individuals, trusts, or estates.

Act 50, SLH 2024, also amends the PTE tax rate to 9 percent and allows a qualified member of an electing PTE to carry forward any excess credit over liability to subsequent years.

Act 50, SLH 2024, took effect on June 19, 2024, and applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.

On December 23, 2024, the Department of Taxation issued Temporary Administrative Rules Relating to Pass-Through Entities as enacted by Act 50, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024. These rules replace the prior temporary rules, which took effect on February 16, 2024.

Visit the Pass-Through Entity Taxation webpage for more information.

Schedule CR, Schedule of Tax Credits

The Department of Taxation has updated Schedule CR and its instructions for tax year 2024. Schedule CR is used to summarize the total refundable and nonrefundable tax credits claimed. The updated form now includes an additional column on page 3 for lines 26 through 30 to input the “Total Unused Carryover Credit from Prior Tax Year.”

The updated Schedule CR and its Instructions are available on the Tax Forms and Publications page.

Research Activities Tax Credit

Act 139, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2024, repeals the provision that previously made the base amount in the Internal Revenue Code inapplicable to the research activities tax credit and allowed credits for all qualified research expenses to be taken without regard to previous years’ expenses.

Act 139 SLH 2024, also amends the definition of “qualified high technology business” to a small business that conducts more than 50 percent of its activities in qualified research in Hawaiʻi and is registered to do business in Hawaiʻi. A small business is defined as a company with no more than 500 employees.

Act 139 also extends the sunset date of the research activities tax credit to December 31, 2029. Act 139 became effective on July 1, 2024, and applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.

Form N-20, Nonresident Partnership Withholding

New entries on Form N-20 and Schedule K, and a new form (Schedule NP – Allocation of Withholding Payment to Nonresident Partners) have been developed for taxpayers to report nonresident withholding distributed to nonresident partners, and total Hawaii income tax withheld (on Schedule NP).

The 2024 Form N-20, Instructions, and Schedule NP will be available on our Tax Forms and Publications page in January 2025.

Form N-20 and Schedule NP are available for electronic filing via joint filing with the IRS (modernized e-file). Please review the Approved e-file Software page to review forms supported by each software vendor for tax year 2024.

Tax Law Changes from the 2024 Regular Legislative Session

See Tax Announcement 2024-04 for a summary of the tax law changes following the 2024 legislative session.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get a six-month extension to file my return?

You are not required to file any form to request an automatic 6-month extension of time to file Form N-11 or N-15. The 6-month extension is automatically granted if all of the following conditions are met:

  • The properly estimated tax liability is paid on or before April 21
  • The tax return is filed on or before October 21
  • The tax return is accompanied by full payment of any tax not already paid; and
  • You are not bound by a court order to file a tax return on or before April 21.

Properly estimated tax liability means you have made a bona fide and reasonable attempt to locate and gather all of the necessary information to make a proper estimate of tax liability for the taxable year and at least 90% of your total tax liability shown on the return is paid.

How do I make a payment?

To make a tax payment on or before April 21, you can submit an electronic payment via Hawaii Tax Online (hitax.hawaii.gov) by selecting “Make Payment” under the “Quick Links” section with a payment type of “Estimated Payment.”

To pay by check, attach a completed Form N-200V to your payment then mail or hand-deliver to one of our drop-off boxes.

See Tax Facts 2021-1 for more information regarding “Income Tax Extensions for Individuals, Corporations, Partnerships, Trust, and REMICS.”

Does an extension to file my return give me more time to pay my taxes?

The automatic six-month extension only provides additional time to file your return. The extension does not give you more time to pay taxes owed. You must pay your properly estimated tax liability on or before April 21.

If you think you will owe tax but cannot pay the entire liability, you should pay as much as you can to avoid penalties and interest.

How do I know how much tax to pay to get the automatic extension?

You must make a bona fide and reasonable attempt to locate and account for all of the information necessary to make the estimate of the tax owed as of April 21. In addition to the information available for the current tax year, taxpayers should also consider the amount of tax owed in prior years. The Department suggests overestimating the tax owed when calculating your estimated payment to avoid penalties and interest and to qualify for the automatic extension.

What happens if my properly estimated tax liability is not paid by April 21nd?

If you do not pay your properly estimated tax liability, which is at least 90% of your final tax liability as reported on your return, there is no extension. You will be assessed penalties and interest on the amount unpaid.

Will I still get the automatic extension if I don’t pay any outstanding tax liability with my return?

No, one of the conditions to receive the extension is that the full payment of any remaining unpaid tax be paid at the same time that the return is filed.

If I electronically file my income tax return, how do I make my accompanying payment?

The Department deems electronic payments made on the same day that the return is electronically filed to be a payment accompanying the return.

Page Last Updated: December 30, 2024