In Hawaii, tax clearances are routinely required for a variety of reasons, including bidding on State government projects, and obtaining licenses such as contractor’s and liquor licenses. According to State Tax Director Frederick Pablo, the Department of Taxation processes 30,000 such requests annually.

A change in Hawaii law effective July 1, 2012, permitted the Department of Taxation to charge $20 per request, plus $5 for each certified copy.

On August 1, 2012, Department of Taxation Legislative Coordinator Mallory Fujitani stated that the authorized fees would not be imposed until the Department of Taxation had a “fully automated” tax clearance application process. At that point, in-person, manual requests would be charged the fee. In a slide presented at the Department of Taxation’s Summer Tax Workshop, the Department stated that public notice would be provided before the imposition of any fee.

Tax clearances may be denied for a variety of reasons including unfiled returns and unpaid tax balances.