--- title: "Do I need a Hawaii GE tax license to sell on eBay or Poshmark?" description: "Yes, if you are in Hawaii: marketplace sellers there need a GE license ($20 once), and sales they make through marketplaces to Hawaii buyers are taxed at 0.5%." canonical: https://resellerindex.com/tax/sellers-permit/hawaii/ last_updated: 2026-10-23 publisher: "The Reseller Index" --- [Taxes](https://resellerindex.com/tax/) / [Seller's permits by state](https://resellerindex.com/tax/sellers-permit/) / Hawaii # Do I need a seller's permit to sell on eBay or Poshmark in Hawaii? Yes, if you are based in Hawaii: the Department of Taxation says every marketplace seller with a physical presence in the State is engaged in business there and must register for a general excise tax (GET) license, even when the marketplace is treated as the retail seller. Hawaii also taxes your side of each marketplace sale shipped to a Hawaii buyer at the 0.5% wholesale rate, and your direct sales (own site, Facebook, a craft fair) at the 4% retail rate plus any county surcharge; the license is a one-time $20 registration. Hawaii calls it a general excise tax (GET) license, issued by the Hawaii Department of Taxation. General information, not tax or legal advice. Check with a tax professional about your own situation. Checked against the official pages listed below on Oct 23, 2026. ## Hawaii in short - **Sell only on marketplaces that collect the tax:** Yes: the state says to register - **Also sell direct (own site, Facebook, flea market):** Yes: the state says to register; $20 fee - **Resale certificate:** Resale Certificate for Goods, General Form 1 (G-17) - **Garage and occasional sales:** Exempt: an occasional, isolated, irregular, infrequent or incidental sale - **Where to register:** [Hawaii Tax Online (Register New Business) or Form BB-1](https://hitax.hawaii.gov/) ## If you sell only on eBay, Poshmark and other marketplaces All marketplace sellers engaged in business in the State must register for GET licenses before starting business; any marketplace seller with a physical presence in Hawaii is engaged in business there. Act 2 treats your sales to the marketplace facilitator as sales at wholesale, so a Hawaii marketplace seller owes GET at the 0.5% wholesale rate on goods sold through a facilitator and sent to a buyer in the State; the facilitator owes the retail rate. The rule: Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019; HRS § 237-4 and § 237-13(2); Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (revised Dec. 19, 2019). > "If they have not already done so, all marketplace facilitators and marketplace sellers engaged in business in the State must register for GET licenses prior January 1, 2020, or prior to starting business activities, whichever is later." Hawaii Department of Taxation, [Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (Revised), Guidance Regarding Marketplace Facilitators, Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir19-03_rev2.pdf), Engaged in Business in the State and Registration > "Any marketplace facilitator or marketplace seller with physical presence in the State is engaged in business in the State and is required to register for a GET license." Hawaii Department of Taxation, [Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (Revised), Guidance Regarding Marketplace Facilitators, Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir19-03_rev2.pdf), Engaged in Business in the State and Registration > "Sales of tangible personal property made through a marketplace facilitator that the marketplace seller sends to a retail purchaser in the State" Hawaii Department of Taxation, [Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (Revised), Guidance Regarding Marketplace Facilitators, Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir19-03_rev2.pdf), GET Liability of Marketplace Sellers: subject to GET at the wholesale rate Hawaii has no sales tax; it has the general excise tax (GET), a tax on the business's gross income, not on the buyer. The state rate is 4% on retail sales and 0.5% on wholesaling (selling to another business for resale), and a county surcharge of 0.5% applies to 4% transactions in counties that adopted one. Since January 1, 2020 (Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019), a marketplace facilitator is deemed the retail seller of everything sold through its marketplace. Sources: [Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (Revised), Guidance Regarding Marketplace Facilitators, Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir19-03_rev2.pdf); [An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised September 2023)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/brochures/GE_brochure-23.pdf). ## If you also sell direct: your own site, Facebook, flea markets, consignment Anyone who receives income from business activities in Hawaii, including retailing and wholesaling, registers for a GET license. Direct sales to Hawaii buyers are your own retail sales, taxed at 4% plus any county surcharge. The license is displayed at your place of business, with a free branch license for each extra location. - **Fee:** $20, one time, at registration. Branch licenses for extra locations are free. - **Renewal:** The GET license is a one-time registration with no renewal. Every license holder files periodic and annual returns, even for periods with no income. - **Register:** [Hawaii Tax Online (Register New Business) or Form BB-1](https://hitax.hawaii.gov/) > "Is there a registration fee? Yes. The registration fee is $20." Hawaii Department of Taxation, [An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised September 2023)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/brochures/GE_brochure-23.pdf), Question 21 Sources: [Licensing Information](https://tax.hawaii.gov/geninfo/licensing/); [An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised September 2023)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/brochures/GE_brochure-23.pdf). ## Resale certificate: buying inventory without paying sales tax - **The form:** [Resale Certificate for Goods, General Form 1 (G-17)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/2016/g17.pdf) - **Do you need your own permit to give one?** Yes: the state ties the certificate to the buyer's own permit or account number In Hawaii the tax is on the seller, so a resale certificate changes your supplier's rate: a sale to a business for resale is wholesaling, taxed at 0.5% instead of 4%. On Form G-17 the buyer certifies it holds a Hawaii Tax ID under the GET law and that its purchases are for resale at retail or wholesale, and agrees to pay the supplier any additional tax imposed on the supplier for those sales. The supplier keeps the form; it isn't sent to the Department. ### Thrift stores, estate sales and yard sales The state pages we checked don't say anything specific about using a resale certificate at a thrift store, estate sale or yard sale. A certificate is given to a seller who would otherwise charge you tax, so whether a particular store takes one is between you and that seller; ask before you buy. ### Misusing a certificate Form G-17 is signed under the penalties set forth in section 231-36, HRS. > "That the Purchaser is the holder of Hawaii Tax Identification No. GE" Hawaii Department of Taxation, [Form G-17, Resale Certificate for Goods, General Form 1 (Rev. 2016)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/2016/g17.pdf), Form G-17 (Rev. 2016), purchaser's certification Sources: [Form G-17, Resale Certificate for Goods, General Form 1 (Rev. 2016)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/2016/g17.pdf); [An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised September 2023)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/brochures/GE_brochure-23.pdf). ## Garage sales, yard sales and other occasional sales Exempt: an occasional, isolated, irregular, infrequent or incidental sale. Casual sales of tangible personal property are not doing business, so their receipts aren't gross income for the GET. A casual sale is an occasional, isolated, irregular, infrequent or incidental sale of property not ordinarily sold in the usual course of business. Sales of goods like those in your merchandise inventory are in the usual course of business, and frequent sales that show a pattern of selling are not casual. The rule: [Haw. Admin. Rules § 18-237-1 (definitions of business and casual sale)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/har/har_237.pdf). > "Casual sales of tangible personal property, however, are not deemed to constitute doing business or engaging in business." Hawaii Department of Taxation, [Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 18, Chapter 237, General Excise Tax Law (unofficial compilation as of 12/31/2025)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/har/har_237.pdf), § 18-237-1 Sources: [Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 18, Chapter 237, General Excise Tax Law (unofficial compilation as of 12/31/2025)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/har/har_237.pdf). ## Worked examples ### A Honolulu seller with $1,000 of marketplace sales to Hawaii buyers Under Act 2 a marketplace facilitator is the retail seller and is taxed at the retail rate on those sales. Your side is a wholesale sale to the facilitator: $1,000 x 0.5% = $5.00 of GET, reported on your own GET returns. Sales shipped to buyers outside Hawaii aren't in this figure; TIR 2019-03 lists the wholesale rate for goods sent to a purchaser in the State. Ask a tax professional how your out-of-state sales are treated. ### Adding a craft fair table $400 of sales at a fair are your own retail sales: $400 x 4% = $16.00 of state GET, or $18.00 at 4.5% in a county with the 0.5% surcharge. Hawaii lets a business visibly pass the GET on to customers, but it remains the seller's tax. ### Buying a $500 lot from a Hawaii wholesaler With your GE license number on Form G-17, the wholesaler's sale to you is wholesaling at 0.5% ($2.50 of GET on $500) rather than a 4% retail sale ($20.00). Whether the wholesaler passes any of it on to you is between you and the wholesaler; the form commits you to pay any additional tax imposed on it for those sales. ## Edge cases and details - If the marketplace you sell through isn't itself engaged in business in Hawaii, TIR 2019-03 says the ordinary rules apply as if Act 2 weren't enacted: a seller with a physical presence in Hawaii is engaged in business there and subject to GET on all its sales into the State. - Under Act 41, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, as TIR 2019-03 (revised December 19, 2019) describes it, a seller outside Hawaii with no physical presence there is engaged in business in Hawaii if it has $100,000 or more of gross income sourced to the State or 200 or more transactions there; the release explains which marketplace sales count toward it. - A cancelled GET license can't be reactivated: the brochure says you apply again and pay the $20 fee. A license can be placed on inactive status for up to two years with Form L-9 instead. - The brochure lists fines of $500 to $2,000 for failing to obtain a GET license, failing to produce it on demand, failing to keep records or interfering with a tax official, and $1,000 to $3,000 for a cash-based business. - The county surcharge doesn't apply to the 0.5% wholesale rate. ## What to do 1. Based in Hawaii and selling only on marketplaces: the Department says to register for a GET license (Hawaii Tax Online or Form BB-1, $20) and report your marketplace sales at the wholesale rate on your periodic and annual returns. 2. Selling direct as well: report those sales at the retail rate, display your license where you sell, and add a free branch license for each extra location. 3. Buying inventory for resale: give each supplier a completed Form G-17 with your Hawaii Tax ID. 4. Out-of-state buyers, mixed marketplace and direct sales, or a seller outside Hawaii near the $100,000 or 200-transaction test: check with a tax professional or the Department's Rules Office. ## Common questions ### Does Hawaii have a sales tax? No. Hawaii has the general excise tax (GET), which is on the business: 4% on retail sales and 0.5% on wholesaling, plus a 0.5% county surcharge on 4% sales in counties that adopted it. ### How much is a Hawaii GE license? $20, once, at registration. It doesn't need renewing, though every license holder files periodic and annual returns. ### Do I owe GET if the marketplace already collects it? The Department's guidance says a marketplace seller engaged in business in Hawaii owes GET at the 0.5% wholesale rate on goods sold through a marketplace facilitator and sent to a buyer in the State; the facilitator owes the retail rate. ### Is a garage sale subject to Hawaii GET? A casual sale (occasional, isolated, irregular, infrequent or incidental, of property not ordinarily sold in the course of business) is not doing business under Hawaii's rules. Regular selling of goods you buy to resell is. ## Related - [Seller's permits by state: marketplace-only sellers, resale certificates and garage sales on one table](https://resellerindex.com/tax/sellers-permit/) - [Hawaii: marketplace sales tax and 1099-K rules](https://resellerindex.com/tax/states/hawaii/) - [Georgia: do you need a seller's permit?](https://resellerindex.com/tax/sellers-permit/georgia/) - [Idaho: do you need a seller's permit?](https://resellerindex.com/tax/sellers-permit/idaho/) - [Form 1099-K for resellers: the federal test](https://resellerindex.com/guides/1099-k-for-resellers/) - [Do eBay's fees apply to the sales tax a buyer pays?](https://resellerindex.com/guides/ebay-fees-on-sales-tax/) - [Where each selling app keeps its sales report](https://resellerindex.com/guides/sales-reports-for-taxes/) ## General information, not tax or legal advice This page summarizes Hawaii's own published pages, rules and statutes as read on Oct 23, 2026. It doesn't say whether you must register, what you should file or whether you owe tax: that turns on your own sales, where you sell and what you buy. Rules change. Check with a tax professional, or ask the Hawaii Department of Taxation directly. ## Sources Official pages this page is built from, with the day each was read. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [Tax Information Release No. 2019-03 (Revised), Guidance Regarding Marketplace Facilitators, Act 2, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/tir/tir19-03_rev2.pdf), dated Dec 19, 2019; read Oct 23, 2026. Marketplace sellers' registration and GET at the wholesale rate. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [Tax Information Releases](https://tax.hawaii.gov/legal/tir/), dated Oct 15, 2026; read Oct 23, 2026. No later marketplace release through TIR 2026-05. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [Licensing Information](https://tax.hawaii.gov/geninfo/licensing/), dated Oct 2, 2023; read Oct 23, 2026. Who registers, $20 one-time fee, display, returns with no income. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [An Introduction to the General Excise Tax (revised September 2023)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/brochures/GE_brochure-23.pdf); read Oct 23, 2026. GET rates, county surcharge, registration fee, branch licenses, fines. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [Form G-17, Resale Certificate for Goods, General Form 1 (Rev. 2016)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/2016/g17.pdf); read Oct 23, 2026. Form text. - Hawaii Department of Taxation: [Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 18, Chapter 237, General Excise Tax Law (unofficial compilation as of 12/31/2025)](https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/har/har_237.pdf), dated Dec 31, 2025; read Oct 23, 2026. § 18-237-1: business and casual sale. Subscribe: https://resellerindex.com/subscribe/ --- The Reseller Index Researched and drafted with AI assistance from each platform's and carrier's own published pages. 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