Starting and running a nonprofit in Hawaii

Forming your nonprofit corporation

The state creates your organization; the IRS separately recognizes it as tax-exempt. This is the state part.

Where you file

Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Business Registration Division. You can file online, or by email, mail or fax. Mail to P.O. Box 40, Honolulu, HI 96810, or deliver to 335 Merchant Street, Room 201, Honolulu, HI 96813; make checks payable to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Form

Form DNP-1, Articles of Incorporation for a Hawaii Nonprofit Corporation (HRS §414D-32).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Filing fee

$25.00, not refundable, and $25.00 more for expedited service. The Division also lists an additional State Archives fee of $1.00.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Annual report

Every year, to the DCCA, by the end of the quarter in which you incorporated: March 31 (incorporated January to March), June 30 (April to June), September 30 (July to September) or December 31 (October to December). There's no report in the year you incorporate (HRS §414D-308).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Annual report fee

$2.50 for a nonprofit corporation filing online. A late report costs $10.00 for each year it's late.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Then get your EIN and apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status: the formation stage walks through both.

Registering to ask for donations

Many states want charities to register before they ask residents for money. Here's what this state says.

Do you have to register?

Yes, unless you're exempt: every public benefit corporation based in Hawaii, and every charitable organization that isn't exempt, must register with the Department of the Attorney General before it solicits contributions or has others solicit for it (HRS §467B-2.1).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Exempt

Only if you apply for an exemption and the department approves it. The groups that can be exempted are: religious organizations exempt from filing Form 990 under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) and (iii) and (C)(i); parent-teacher associations; educational institutions licensed or accredited by the listed accrediting organizations, and 501(c)(3)s authorized by and identified with them whose solicitations mainly go to their students, alumni, faculty, trustees and families; nonprofit hospitals licensed by the State (or under similar laws of another state); corporations set up by Congress that send Congress annual reports audited by the Department of Defense; government agencies; and charities that normally receive less than $25,000 a year in contributions (on average over the previous three fiscal years) and don't employ or pay a professional solicitor or professional fundraising counsel (HRS §467B-11.5).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Fee

You register only once, and there's no fee to register.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Every year

File an annual report with the department, electronically. If you file Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF, the report is a copy of it, due within ten business days after you file with the IRS; if you file Form 990-N or no 990, it's due by the 15th day of the fifth month after your fiscal year ends. The fee depends on total revenue: $0 under $25,000; $25 from $25,000; $50 from $50,000; $100 from $100,000; $150 from $250,000; $200 from $500,000; $250 from $1,000,000; $350 from $2,000,000; $600 from $5,000,000. Filing late costs $20 a day, up to $1,000 (HRS §467B-6.5).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

State tax exemption

IRS approval doesn't automatically exempt you from state taxes. Here's how this state handles them.

Income tax

Automatic: nonprofits exempt from federal income tax are exempt from Hawaii income tax, with no separate Hawaii application. If you must file Form 990-T with the IRS, you file Form N-70NP for Hawaii on the unrelated business income.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

General excise tax

Hawaii's general excise tax (GET) is imposed on the seller, not the customer, so even an organization exempt from GET isn't exempt when it buys goods and services: sellers can pass their GET on to you. Only organizations formed for the purposes listed in HRS §237-23(a)(3) to (7) can be exempt from GET on their own income, and they must apply at hitax.hawaii.gov, paying a one-time $20 registration fee if they don't have a GET license. Income from fundraising activities is subject to GET.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

GET exemption application

Form G-6, filed electronically on Hawaii Tax Online (paper Form G-6 is only a draft). If you're a Hawaii organization and apply within three months of being legally formed, an approved exemption runs from the date you were formed.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Your board

The smallest board the state's nonprofit law allows. Many charities choose more.

Minimum directors

Three or more, with the number set in or under your articles or bylaws (HRS §414D-133).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Every year

• Hawaii Attorney General: charity annual financial report (990-N filers and groups that file no 990)

  Registered charities that file the IRS Form 990-N, or that don't have to file a Form 990, send their annual financial report to the Attorney General's Tax and Charities Division by the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends. Each report comes with an annual fee based on total revenue: $0 under $25,000, $25 from $25,000 to under $50,000, and rising to $600 at $5 million or more. A late report or fee costs $20 a day, up to $1,000. Charities that normally get less than $25,000 a year in contributions and don't pay a professional fundraiser can apply for an exemption, as can some religious groups, PTAs and accredited schools. Confirm with the Attorney General's Tax and Charities Division.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

• Hawaii Attorney General: charity annual financial report (Form 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF filers)

  If your charity files IRS Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF, Hawaii's annual financial report is a copy of that return. You must submit it to the Attorney General within 10 business days after you file it with the IRS, so the due date moves with your IRS filing date and any IRS extension. You also pay the annual fee, which is based on total revenue: $0 under $25,000, up to $600 at $5 million or more. A late report or fee costs $20 a day, up to $1,000. Confirm with the Attorney General's Tax and Charities Division.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

• Hawaii Business Registration Division: annual report

  Hawaii nonprofit corporations file an annual report with the Business Registration Division (BREG) of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The report is due in the calendar quarter that holds your registration date, and you can file any time in that quarter. The quarters end March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. The online fee for a nonprofit is $2.50, and a late report costs $10 for each year it is late. Confirm with BREG.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

Federal deadlines (the Form 990 family) depend on your fiscal year and size. The compliance calendar puts them and Hawaii's in date order.

Make my Hawaii calendar

Who to ask

We don't list a free legal help program for Hawaii charities yet. The directory has the programs we know of.