(a) Every wholesaler or dealer, in addition to any other taxes provided by law, shall pay, for the privilege of conducting business and other activities in the State, an excise tax equal to:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-3

  • Cigarette: means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size and shape and whether or not the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material except tobacco. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Dealer: means any person coming into the possession of cigarettes or tobacco products which have not been acquired from an authorized permit holder or licensee under this chapter, or any person rendering a distribution service who buys and maintains, at the person's place of business, a stock of cigarettes or tobacco products that have not been acquired from a licensee and who distributes or uses such cigarettes or tobacco products. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • E-liquid: means any liquid or like substance, which may or may not contain nicotine, that is designed or intended to be used in an electronic smoking device, whether or not packaged in a cartridge or other container. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Electronic smoking device: means any device that may be used to deliver any aerosolized or vaporized substance to a person inhaling from the device, including but not limited to an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic pipe, vape pen, or electronic hookah. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Large cigar: means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco if such product is wrapped in any substance containing tobacco and weighs more than four pounds per thousand. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Little cigar: means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco if such product is wrapped in any substance containing tobacco, other than natural leaf tobacco, and weighs not more than four pounds per thousand rolls. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Sale: includes every act of selling and includes any sale or act of selling that originates from any order that is placed or submitted by means of a telephonic or other method of voice transmission, the mail, or any other delivery service, or the Internet or other online service. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • sold: includes any delivery of cigarettes or tobacco products, whether cash is actually paid therefor or not. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Tobacco products: means :

    (1) Tobacco in any form, other than cigarettes or little cigars, that is prepared or intended for consumption or for personal use by humans, including large cigars and any substitutes thereof other than cigarettes that bear the semblance thereof, snuff, chewing or smokeless tobacco, and smoking or pipe tobacco; or
    (2) Electronic smoking devices; or
    (3) E-liquid. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Use: means the exercise of any right or power incident to ownership or possession, other than the sale, or the keeping or retention for the purpose of sale. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
  • Wholesaler: means a person rendering a distribution service who buys and maintains, at the person's place of business, a stock of cigarettes or tobacco products that the person uses, possesses, or distributes only to retailers, or other wholesalers, or both. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 245-1
(1) 5.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 1998, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(2) 6.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after September 30, 2002, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(3) 6.50 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 2003, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(4) 7.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 2004, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(5) 8.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2006, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(6) 9.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2007, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(7) 10.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2008, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(8) 13.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(9) 11.00 cents for each little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after October 1, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(10) 15.00 cents for each cigarette or little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2010, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(11) 16.00 cents for each cigarette or little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2011, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(12) Seventy per cent of the wholesale price of each article or item of tobacco products, other than large cigars, electronic smoking devices, and e-liquids, sold by the wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;
(13) Fifty per cent of the wholesale price of each large cigar of any length sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer; and
(14) Seventy per cent of the wholesale price of each electronic smoking device or e-liquid sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after January 1, 2024, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold, then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer.

Where the tax imposed has been paid on cigarettes, little cigars, or tobacco products that thereafter become the subject of a casualty loss deduction allowable under chapter 235, the tax paid shall be refunded or credited to the account of the wholesaler or dealer. The tax shall be applied to cigarettes through the use of stamps.

(b) The taxes, however, are subject to the following limitations:

(1) The measure of the taxes shall not include any cigarettes or tobacco products exempted, and so long as the same are exempted, from the imposition of taxes by the Constitution or laws of the United States;
(2) The measure of taxes shall exempt and exclude all sales of cigarettes and tobacco products to the United States (including any agency or instrumentality thereof that is wholly owned or otherwise so constituted as to be immune from the levy of a tax under this chapter), sold by any person licensed under this chapter; and
(3) The taxes shall be paid only once with respect to the same cigarettes or tobacco product. This limitation shall not prohibit the imposition of the excise tax on receipts from sales of tobacco products under subsection (a)(5); provided that the amount subject to the tax on each sale shall not include amounts previously taxed under this chapter.
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