Hawaii LLC Annual Report: Due Date, Fee and What Happens If You Miss It

How the Annual Report works in Hawaii

Hawaii LLCs file an Annual Report with the Business Registration Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The deadline is set by calendar quarter rather than by a single statewide date: an LLC registered between January 1 and March 31 files by March 31 each year, April through June registrations file by June 30, July through September by September 30, and October through December by December 31. The report may be filed any time inside that quarter. Nothing is due in the formation year. The online fee through Hawaii Business Express is $12.50, which is among the lowest in the country, and BREG's paper fee is $15. A late filing adds $10 for each delinquent year. The report lists the members or managers and their addresses, so it doubles as an update to public ownership records. BREG regularly warns that it does not use third-party companies to collect reports, so solicitation letters asking for higher fees are not official.

First report: No report is due in the year of formation; the first Annual Report is due by the end of the registration quarter in the following calendar year.

If you miss the deadline

• BREG assesses a $10 late fee for each year a report is delinquent when filed online; the statute allows a penalty of up to $100 for each 30-day period of delinquency.
• If an LLC fails to file annual reports for two years, BREG may mail a notice of intent to terminate; if the LLC does not cure within 60 days after the notice is mailed, it is administratively terminated (HRS 428-809 and 428-810).
• Fixing a dissolved or forfeited LLC is covered in our Hawaii LLC reinstatement guide.

How to file the Hawaii Annual Report

• File online at Hawaii Business Express (hbe.ehawaii.gov/annuals) using the LLC's name or file number and a card; paper filing by mail to BREG in Honolulu is also accepted.
• What becomes public: The report updates the LLC's mailing address, agent, and the names and addresses of its members or managers, which appear on the public business registry.
• Filed or paid alongside it: No franchise tax is due with the report. Hawaii LLCs that do business in the state generally hold a General Excise Tax license with the Department of Taxation, and a tax clearance is required to reinstate.
• Official filing page: file with the state

What Hawaii charges over five years

Counts only the formation fee and the Annual Report fee. No franchise tax is due with the report. Hawaii LLCs that do business in the state generally hold a General Excise Tax license with the Department of Taxation, and a tax clearance is required to reinstate. Registered agent service, if you use one, typically adds $100 to $300 a year.

Hawaii compared with other states founders consider

Mistakes Hawaii owners make

• Using the formation anniversary date as the deadline instead of the last day of the calendar quarter in which the LLC registered.
• Paying a third-party solicitation that mimics an official notice, when the state charges $12.50 online.
• Expecting a report in the year of formation and then forgetting the real first deadline in the following year's quarter.
• Forgetting to update the member or manager list, which Hawaii publishes on the business registry.