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2009 Hawaii Real Estate Tax Rates

By Randy L. Prothero

Real Estate Agent with eXp Realty 2021016812

August 01, 2009 11:53 AM

Hawaii has some of the lowest real estate taxes in the country.

Beside being in paradise and having limited amounts of land, which put pressures on the real estate values, we do have very reasonable real estate taxes.

The reason for this is that we do not fund our school system through real estate taxes. Schools are funded by our state general fund. Real estate taxes pay for county government services.

In parts of the country folks will let their land go for back taxes. That is unheard of here. When the economy took a big tank on the mainland, we felt it here, but nothing like some places did.

What I tell folks is that we sell dirt. It is some of the most expensive dirt on the planet and we are not making any more. (except on the Big Island, courtesy of the volcano).

Here are the 2009 Hawaii Real Estate Tax Rates for each county:

	Honolulu County (Oahu)	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Property*
1	Residential	$3.42
3	Commercial	$12.40
4	Industrial	$12.40
5	Agricultural	$5.70
6	Preservation	$5.70
7	Hotel and Resort	$12.40
9	Public Service	$0.00
0	Vacant Agricultural	$8.50

	Maui County	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Building	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Land
1	Improved Residential	$4.85	$4.85
2	Apartment	$4.55	$4.55
3	Commercial	$6.25	$6.25
4	Industrial	$6.50	$6.50
5	Agricultural	$4.50	$4.50
6	Conservation	$4.75	$4.75
7	Hotel and Resort	$8.20	$8.20
8	Unimproved Residential	$5.35	$5.35
9	Home Owner	$2.00	$2.00
0	Timeshare	$14.00	$14.00

	Kauai County	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Building	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Land
1	Single Family Residential	$4.25	$3.95
2	Apartment	$7.90	$6.90
3	Commercial	$7.90	$6.90
4	Industrial	$7.90	$6.90
5	Agricultural	$4.25	$6.90
6	Conservation	$4.25	$6.90
7	Hotel and Resort	$7.90	$6.90
8	Homestead	$3.44	$4.00

	Hawaii County (Big Island)	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Building	Tax Rate Per $1000 Net Taxable Land
1	Residential	$7.10	$8.10
2	Apartment	$8.10	$8.10
3	Commercial	$9.00	$9.00
4	Industrial	$9.00	$9.00
5	Agricultural or Native Forests	$6.35	$8.35
6	Conservation	$8.55	$8.55
7	Hotel and Resort	$9.00	$9.00
8	Home Owner	$5.55	$5.55
9	Affordable Rental Housing	$5.55	$5.55

* Single rate for each class
Source: City and County of Honolulu June 2009
This Flyer is deemed reliable but not guaranteed

DISCLAIMER: This flyer is for informational purposes and should not be relied upon for any business, legal, tax or financial decisions. Please seek professional advice when making such a decision.

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George Souto

George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT

Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Randy those taxes are unbelievably low. Over here in Connecticut our taxe go from around the low $20 to about the mid $50's.

Sounds like you guys need a few more volcanos around there to create more land :)

Aug 01, 2009 12:44 PM

Randy L. Prothero

eXp Realty - Hollister, MO

Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645

George - The state claims all of the land created by the volcano anyway.

Aug 01, 2009 12:50 PM

William Feela

WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN

Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

WOW...I would have thought the taxes would be a lot higher. I imagine the taxes on tourism pays for a lot of it!

Aug 01, 2009 04:14 PM

William - Our other taxes are higher. They have to give us a break somewhere.

Aug 01, 2009 04:38 PM

Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089

Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI

Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

We are lucky to have such low rates, even though they have gone up in past years. I know many buyers come here and can't believe how low the property taxes are.

Aug 02, 2009 03:02 PM

Georgina - It is one of the few areas that we have reasonable taxes.

Aug 04, 2009 04:59 AM

Anonymous

Jacque

PLS HELP ME WITH MY MATH......I live in Los Angeles County, California **Long Beach.

When we purchase a real estate property, We pay annual RE taxes the first year based on 1.25% of the sales amount, ie: $500,000K. Then every year the RE taxes are ONLY allowed to go up maximum of 2%.

Does Hawaii have annual increases based on ???____what??

So when I casually looked at the taxes rates yesterday, I interpreted them at 3.4%, not a .0342%.

If .0342% is correct, then that is quite low for a California girl, & I feel more interested in Hawaii.

Thanks for your time.

Aug 16, 2009 01:57 PM

Jacque - The rates are per $1000 of value. On Oahu that is .0342% for a residential property. That us after removing the home exemption if you live in it which lowers it even more. Compared to California we are quite low.

Aug 23, 2009 05:41 PM

David

I heard that land tax valuations were frozen by the State for two years, is that true? And when does this period finish?

Apr 08, 2010 10:51 AM

Tax valuations are done by the individual counties, not the state. I have not heard anything about them being frozen.

Because property values have gone down, the assessments in most cases have gone down the last couple of years.

Apr 08, 2010 03:24 PM

2009 Hawaii Real Estate Tax Rates

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