Hawaii

Hawaii uses a standalone Registered Agents Act (HRS ch. 425R, Model Registered Agents Act) for appointment mechanics across entity typesEntity typesLLC (limited liability company), corporation (for-profit; 'profit corporation' in some states' vocabulary), nonprofit corporation, LP (limited partnership), LLP (limited liability partnership), LLLP (limited liability limited partnership),Read the full entry →. The corporation act and LLC act each require continuous maintenance of a registered agent with a business address in the State who may be: an individual resident of the State, a domestic entity authorized to transact business there, or a foreign entity authorized to transact business there. Filings must state an actual street address or rural route box number in the State (sec. 425R-3).

Consent required: yes.

Cascade in the entity codes: service may be made on the registered agent, officer, or director (for LLCs: agent, manager, or member); if none can be found, on the manager/superintendent or any person in charge of the entity's property, business, or office; and if no such person can be found in the State and no registered agent is on file (or the named agent is not found), by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the entity's principal office. Perfection dates mirror the mail rules (receipt, signed return receipt, or 5 days after deposit).

• Administrative DissolutionRevocation / administrative dissolutionThe state involuntarily ending an entity's authority to do business - for missed annual reports, a lapsed registered agent, or unpaid fees.Read the full entry →. Failure to appoint and maintain an agent for service of process, or to file a statement of change in the agent's name, is a ground for administrative dissolution of a corporation (60-day cure after mailed notice); for LLCs the parallel remedy is administrative termination under sec. 428-809(3).
• Revocation Foreign. Failure of a foreign corporation (or foreign LLC under sec. 428-1006(a)(1)(C)) to appoint and maintain an agent for service of process is a ground for revocation of its certificate of authorityCertificate of authorityPermission for an entity formed in one state to do business in another - the 'foreign' registration.Read the full entry →, with a 60-day notice-and-cure period.
• ReinstatementReinstatementRestoring an entity the state revoked or administratively dissolved for missed filings - typically back-filing reports, paying accrued fees and penalties, and filing an application.Read the full entry → Fee. Reinstatement must be sought within two years and requires all overdue reports, payment of all delinquent fees and penalties, and a tax-clearance writing from the tax department; the LLC reinstatement application fee is $25.
• Other. An administratively terminated LLC continues only temporarily to wind up and then ceases existence upon completion of winding up; administrative dissolution/termination does not terminate the registered agent's authority.
• No Court Access. A foreign corporation or foreign LLC transacting business in Hawaii without a certificate of authority (the state a revoked entity falls into) may not maintain a proceeding/action in any Hawaii court until it obtains one, and is liable for all fees and penalties it would have owed.

Filing officeFiling officeThe agency that keeps the business register.Read the full entry →

Dept. of Commerce & Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Business Registration Division

State fee

$50 trade nameDBA / fictitious nameA name a business operates under that is not its legal name - 'doing business as.' Also: assumed name, trade name, fictitious business name.Read the full entry → application (Form T-1) + $1 State Archives preservation fee; optional expeditedExpeditePaying the state to process a filing faster than its standard queue - same-day, 24-hour, even 2-hour tiers in some states.Read the full entry → review +$20

Term

5 years from date of registration (HRS 482-3)

Renewal

Renewable for successive 5-year periods; renewal application must be filed within 6 months prior to expiration; renewal fee $50

Publication

Not required. None

Online filing

Available

The regime

Hawaii has no mandatory DBA filing. Trade name registration is voluntary: any person desiring to register a trade name may obtain a certificate of registration by filing an application with the director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, with a certified declaration of proprietorship and the nature of the business. The corpus case notes confirm trade names may also be established without registration under common law.

Where it is filed

Voluntary trade name registrations are filed statewide in the office of the director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).

Publication

Hawaii's trade name registration involves only an application, a certified declaration, and the statutory fee filed with the director; the registration sections contain no newspaper-publication step.

Term and renewal

A registered trade name is effective for five years from the date of registration, provided it remains in actual use in Hawaii; registration may be renewed for additional five-year periods.

Name restrictions

The director may not register a trade name that is substantially identical to a registered trade name, the name of an entity registered or authorized to transact business in Hawaii, or a mark registered in the state, absent written consent of the registered owner or an order under HRS § 482-8.5.

Assumed names for registered entities

A foreign corporation whose corporate name does not satisfy HRS § 414-51 and cannot be changed to an available name may transact business in Hawaii under a fictitious name by delivering to the DCCA director a copy of a trade name registration certificate for that name; the fictitious name may not be the same as or substantially identical to existing entity names, reserved names, other foreign corporations' fictitious names, or registered trade names, trademarks, or service marks.

Penalties

Because registration is voluntary there is no penalty for not registering, but adopting or using a trade name that infringes a registered trade name, mark, entity name, or reserved nameName reservationHolding an entity name with the state before forming - typically 30 to 120 days for a small fee, renewable in some states.Read the full entry → is unlawful, exposing the user to injunctive relief and a fine of up to $2,000.
Knowingly signing a materially false document for filing with the director is a class C felony with a fine of up to $10,000; negligently doing so is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $2,000.
A registered trade name not used in Hawaii for 365 consecutive days is subject to revocation on petition to the director.

Official source

cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/trade↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

General Excise Tax (GET) - gross-receipts tax on all business activity; 'Franchise TaxFranchise taxA recurring tax on the privilege of existing as an entity in a state - not a tax on franchising a business.Read the full entry →' proper (HRS ch. 241) = financial institutions only

Administering agency

Hawaii Department of Taxation (DOTAX) administers both GET (ch. 237) and the financial-institution franchise tax (ch. 241); DCCA BREG only collects the $15 annual report fee.

Corporation minimum

$0

How it is computed

No classic annual franchise/privilege/capital tax on general LLCs or corporations - Hawaii's statutory 'franchise tax' (HRS ch. 241) reaches ONLY banks/building & loan associations/financial services loan companies/financial corporations/SBICs/trust companies/mortgage loan companies/financial holding companies/development companies and subsidiaries, at 7.92% of entire net income for the preceding year (HRS 241-3 imposition, 241-4 rate; Form F-1, Dept. of Taxation). What DOES apply to every LLC and corporation (and all other businesses) is the General Excise Tax (GET, HRS ch. 237) - a gross-receipts tax 'assessed on all business activities' (WA-B&O-style, characterized honestly: transaction-privilege gross-receipts tax, not an entity-existence tax). GET = gross receipts x rate by activity class (HRS 237-13): 4% retailing/services/contracting/commissions/all-other; 0.5% wholesaling/manufacturing/producing/wholesale services; 0.15% insurance producer commissions; PLUS 0.5% county surcharge on the 4% class only (all 4 counties - Honolulu since 2007, Kauai 2019, Hawaii County 2020 (0.25% in 2019), Maui 2024 - each authorized through 12/31/2030), so effective 4.5% statewide on 4%-class receipts in 2026. NO minimum, NO cap: $0 receipts = $0 tax. Periodic returns (G-45) due the 20th day of the month after each period (monthly/quarterly/semiannual by liability); annual reconciliation (G