When exactly do I need to file my Hawaii LLC annual report?

Your Hawaii LLC annual report is due by the end of the calendar quarter that contains your LLC's registration date, not on a fixed statewide deadline, and it is filed with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Registration dates from January 1 to March 31 make the report due March 31; April 1 to June 30 makes it due June 30; July 1 to September 30 makes it due September 30; and October 1 to December 31 makes it due December 31. You file through DCCA's Business Registration Division for $12.50 online or $15.00 on paper. Miss the quarter and DCCA adds a $10.00 late fee for each year you are delinquent, and an LLC that simply stops filing can be administratively terminated, which ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up. Your first report follows one year on: an entity registered in the same year a report would otherwise be due does not have to file for that year. Set a calendar reminder at the start of your registration quarter each year, then file online at cca.hawaii.gov.

What happens if I miss my Hawaii LLC annual report deadline?

Missing your Hawaii LLC annual report deadline is cheap at first and expensive later. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) adds a $10.00 late fee for each year you are delinquent, on top of the $12.50 online or $15.00 paper report fee, and you can still file the overdue report online. The serious risk is what comes next: an LLC that stops filing can be administratively terminated by DCCA. Termination ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up, and your name is no longer held for you on the register. Coming back means filing an Application for Reinstatement for Administratively Terminated Limited Liability Company at $25.00 ($25.00 expedited), plus the reports and late fees still owed. Note that General Excise Tax obligations run separately through the Department of Taxation and are unaffected by the annual report. File through DCCA's online portal at cca.hawaii.gov by the end of your registration quarter to keep the entity active.

Do I need a registered agent for my Hawaii LLC?

Yes, a Hawaii LLC must keep a registered agent with a physical Hawaii street address (a PO box does not qualify) to receive legal documents and official state correspondence. You can act as your own agent if you have a Hawaii address, and many owners instead pay a commercial registered agent service so that documents don't get missed when they move or travel. Your registered agent's address appears on your public filing with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), so it is visible to anyone who looks up your entity, including potential litigants and creditors. If service of process can't reach you, you can lose a case you never knew about. A commercial agent supplies a business address that keeps your home address off the record and guarantees someone is there during business hours to accept legal notices, which matters most exactly when you are sued or facing regulatory action. Update your agent information with DCCA promptly whenever it changes, and confirm what is on file when you file your annual report each year.

How does Hawaii's low LLC costs compare to other states for long-term savings?

Hawaii's first-year state filing cost of about $62.50 is roughly $170 below the national average, the sixth lowest of the 50 states. The recurring side is where it stays cheap: at $12.50 filed online, the annual report is the 13th lowest ongoing cost in the country, and five years of ownership comes to about $112.50 in state filing fees, ninth lowest nationally. Hawaii imposes no entity-level franchise tax on a default LLC, and the routine extras are modest, with a certificate of good standing at $5 and a certified copy at $10 plus a copy charge ($0.25 per page, or a flat $3 online). Be careful about reading that as a low-cost state overall. Hawaii's General Excise Tax is 4% of gross income statewide, 4.5% on Oahu with the county surcharge, and it is charged on gross receipts rather than profit, so an unprofitable year with revenue still generates a bill far larger than the $12.50 report. The GET license itself is a one-time $20. The practical move is to treat the filing fees as trivial and the tax as the real planning problem. Confirm your annual report quarter on the DCCA website and put that quarter-end date on your compliance calendar today.

Compliance · HI

Hawaii LLC Annual Compliance Requirements (2026)

Everything your Hawaii LLC must do to stay in good standing, annual report deadlines, registered agent rules, and state-specific obligations.

First-Year Total$62.5

Annual Ongoing$12.50/yr

vs National Avg- $169.63

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 5, 2026

Hawaii is one of the least expensive states in the country to form and maintain an LLC on paper. Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) cost $50 plus a $1.00 State Archives fee, the sixth lowest formation fee of the 50 states, and the annual report is only $12.50 filed online ($15.00 on paper). Total first-year state filing cost works out to about $62.50, roughly $170 below the national average and the sixth lowest in the country. The state's business climate is dominated by tourism, defense technology, and emerging ocean tech industries, which makes it an attractive base for entrepreneurs in those sectors. Rather than a fixed statewide date, Hawaii ties the annual report to the calendar quarter that contains your LLC's registration date, which spreads deadlines through the year but means you have to track your own quarter. Anchored by Honolulu's strategic location and the military presence at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii offers distinctive opportunities in defense technology, ocean sciences, and dual-use applications. The catch is that filing fees are not where Hawaii costs money. The General Excise Tax runs 4% of gross income statewide (4.5% on Oahu with the county surcharge, in effect through December 31, 2030), the GET license itself is a one-time $20, and a late annual report adds a $10.00 fee for each year you are delinquent, with administrative termination waiting at the end of sustained non-filing.

Stat card for Hawaii LLC compliance costs: $62.5 in unavoidable first-year charges and $12.50 a year after that, −$169.63 against the $232.13 national first-year average. Its annual report costs $12.5. — First-year total bundles the state filing fee with any report or entity tax due in year one; the recurring figure is what Hawaii costs every year after that. Source: Hawaii's published filing requirements and fee schedule, verified July 2026; national average from MyStateLLC's 50-state compliance dataset.

Annual Report Requirements

Due: Anniversary quarter (quarter in which LLC was formed)

Fee: $12.50 online / $15 paper

Frequency: annual

How: Online and mail

Full Hawaii Annual Report Guide →

Registered Agent Requirements

Everything you need to know about registered agents for Hawaii LLCs, including state rules, costs, and privacy benefits.

Before you compare paid services: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one way to meet the requirement and not the only one. The Hawaii registered agent requirements set out what Hawaii itself asks.

Registered agent services for Hawaii LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

Hawaii Registered Agent Requirements →

Late Filing Penalties

Penalty: $10 late fee per year delinquent (DCCA), plus administrative termination for continued non-filing

Hawaii Late Fee Guide →

Hawaii-Specific Compliance Considerations

Registration Quarter Filing System

Hawaii ties the annual report to the calendar quarter that contains your LLC's registration date rather than to a statewide calendar deadline. A registration date between January 1 and March 31 makes the report due March 31, April 1 to June 30 makes it due June 30, July 1 to September 30 makes it due September 30, and October 1 to December 31 makes it due December 31. That gives you a full quarter to file, but the date is yours alone to remember.

Exceptionally Low Compliance Costs

A $50 formation fee (plus a $1.00 State Archives fee) and a $12.50 online annual report put Hawaii among the most affordable states for LLC filings. A certificate of good standing is $5, a certified copy is $10 plus a copy charge ($0.25 per page, or a flat $3 online), and a name reservation is $10, so the routine paperwork stays cheap too.

Defense and Ocean Technology Opportunities

Hawaii's military presence and mid-Pacific location create opportunities in defense technology, ocean sciences, and dual-use applications. LLCs in these sectors benefit from proximity to Pearl Harbor, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and emerging blue economy initiatives.

Streamlined Digital Filing Process

The Business Registration Division's online portal handles both LLC registration and annual report filing, and filing online costs $12.50 against $15.00 on paper. Expedited review of an annual report is available for an additional $25.00 if you need the filing looked at quickly.

General Excise Tax on Gross Receipts

Hawaii's General Excise Tax is the real recurring cost of doing business here, not the $12.50 report. GET is 4% of gross income for most activities (0.5% for wholesaling and manufacturing), plus a 0.5% Oahu county surcharge in effect from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2030. Because it applies to gross income rather than net profit, an LLC with revenue but no profit still owes it, and the GET license carries a one-time $20 fee. GET is administered by the Hawaii Department of Taxation, separately from your annual report.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Your Hawaii LLC annual report is due by the end of the calendar quarter that contains your LLC's registration date, not on a fixed statewide deadline, and it is filed with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Registration dates from January 1 to March 31 make the report due March 31; April 1 to June 30 makes it due June 30; July 1 to September 30 makes it due September 30; and October 1 to December 31 makes it due December 31. You file through DCCA's Business Registration Division for $12.50 online or $15.00 on paper. Miss the quarter and DCCA adds a $10.00 late fee for each year you are delinquent, and an LLC that simply stops filing can be administratively terminated, which ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up. Your first report follows one year on: an entity registered in the same year a report would otherwise be due does not have to file for that year. Set a calendar reminder at the start of your registration quarter each year, then file online at cca.hawaii.gov.
: Missing your Hawaii LLC annual report deadline is cheap at first and expensive later. The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) adds a $10.00 late fee for each year you are delinquent, on top of the $12.50 online or $15.00 paper report fee, and you can still file the overdue report online. The serious risk is what comes next: an LLC that stops filing can be administratively terminated by DCCA. Termination ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up, and your name is no longer held for you on the register. Coming back means filing an Application for Reinstatement for Administratively Terminated Limited Liability Company at $25.00 ($25.00 expedited), plus the reports and late fees still owed. Note that General Excise Tax obligations run separately through the Department of Taxation and are unaffected by the annual report. File through DCCA's online portal at cca.hawaii.gov by the end of your registration quarter to keep the entity active.
: Yes, a Hawaii LLC must keep a registered agent with a physical Hawaii street address (a PO box does not qualify) to receive legal documents and official state correspondence. You can act as your own agent if you have a Hawaii address, and many owners instead pay a commercial registered agent service so that documents don't get missed when they move or travel. Your registered agent's address appears on your public filing with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), so it is visible to anyone who looks up your entity, including potential litigants and creditors. If service of process can't reach you, you can lose a case you never knew about. A commercial agent supplies a business address that keeps your home address off the record and guarantees someone is there during business hours to accept legal notices, which matters most exactly when you are sued or facing regulatory action. Update your agent information with DCCA promptly whenever it changes, and confirm what is on file when you file your annual report each year.
: Hawaii's first-year state filing cost of about $62.50 is roughly $170 below the national average, the sixth lowest of the 50 states. The recurring side is where it stays cheap: at $12.50 filed online, the annual report is the 13th lowest ongoing cost in the country, and five years of ownership comes to about $112.50 in state filing fees, ninth lowest nationally. Hawaii imposes no entity-level franchise tax on a default LLC, and the routine extras are modest, with a certificate of good standing at $5 and a certified copy at $10 plus a copy charge ($0.25 per page, or a flat $3 online). Be careful about reading that as a low-cost state overall. Hawaii's General Excise Tax is 4% of gross income statewide, 4.5% on Oahu with the county surcharge, and it is charged on gross receipts rather than profit, so an unprofitable year with revenue still generates a bill far larger than the $12.50 report. The GET license itself is a one-time $20. The practical move is to treat the filing fees as trivial and the tax as the real planning problem. Confirm your annual report quarter on the DCCA website and put that quarter-end date on your compliance calendar today.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Hawaii sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/dllc/Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division: business entity filings
data.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2017/HRS-Chapter-PDF's/HRS_0428.pdfHawaii statute: Annual Report
cca.hawaii.gov/breg/files/2023/03/LLC-INFO_3-2023.pdfHawaii agency guidance: Annual Report
cca.hawaii.gov/breg/online/Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: file the Annual Report

More for Hawaii LLCs

Start and set up

Taxes, money and growth

Stay compliant

Operate in other states

Compare structures

By owner type

By profession

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.