9 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of coffee shops in Hawaii say.
9 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 5Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 9 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File online through Hawaii Business Express. The articles name a registered agent with a Hawaii street address. Two years without an annual report and the Division administratively terminates the LLC.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever the business trades under any name other than the owner’s legal name or the LLC’s registered name. Registration is statewide, there is no county filing and no newspaper notice, and a lapsed name is open to anyone.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Hawaii has no sales tax. The general excise tax is a tax on the business’s own gross income at 4% for retail, services and food, plus a 0.5% county surcharge on most islands, and most businesses pass it through to the customer at the register. Register on Hawaii Tax Online before the first sale; the license is issued in about a week and must be displayed. The same application opens the withholding, unemployment insurance and transient accommodations accounts.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Neither the state nor any of the four counties (Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai) issues a general business license, so the general excise tax license is the only state registration most storefronts post. The counties still regulate through zoning, building permits, liquor licensing and a few trade-specific permits.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use or any build-out needs a building permit reviewed by the building, zoning and fire reviewers (Honolulu takes plans through its online ePlans system), and the certificate of occupancy comes after the final inspections. The health permit and the liquor license both ask for it.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
The state, not the county, permits food on every island. Submit plans to the branch office for review before building out or converting a space, pass the pre-opening inspection, then post the permit and the color-coded inspection placard. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all food establishments under the code. Ask the Food Safety Branch (Oahu office 808-586-8000) for the fee row that matches your establishment before budgeting.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
The person in charge on duty must have completed a food safety course from the Department’s program or an approved program (an ANSI-accredited food handler or food protection manager course both qualify), and inspectors have asked for proof since September 2018. The Department may waive it for very low-risk operations.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 4
Workers’ compensation insurance is required from the first employee, full or part time. Temporary disability insurance is required too (the employee can be asked to pay up to half the premium, capped at 0.5% of weekly wages, $7.50 a week in 2026). Under the Prepaid Health Care Act an employee who works 20 or more hours a week for four consecutive weeks must be offered health insurance, with the employer paying at least half the premium and the employee’s share capped at 1.5% of wages. Report each new hire to the Child Support Enforcement Agency within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the coffee shops already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a coffee shop at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The coffee shop check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Business Registration Division domestic LLC page and fee schedule; annual report filing pages (HRS chapter 428); Business Registration Division form T-1 (application for registration of trade name, revised November 2025); HRS chapter 482; IRS EIN page; Department of Taxation general excise tax pages and licensing information; Basic Business Application (BB-1); Department of Taxation licensing information; county permitting pages; Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting pages; county land use ordinances and building codes; HAR chapter 11-50 (Food Safety Code), section 11-50-7 (fees) and table 7-1; Food Safety Branch food establishment permit application; HAR 11-50-20 (supervision and certification); Department of Health news release on food handler certification enforcement (2018); Unemployment Insurance Division 2026 contribution rate table; Disability Compensation Division 2026 maximum weekly wage base notice; HRS chapters 386, 392, 393 and 576D; U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
9 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, trade name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), general excise tax license and employer withholding (form bb-1), general business license and zoning confirmation, building permit and certificate of occupancy, and 3 more.
Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Internal Revenue Service, Hawaii Department of Taxation, None, Your county planning and permitting department and Hawaii Department of Health, and 1 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual report (Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division), then trade name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits and employer, in that order.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
How to open a coffee shop in Hawaii (2026) | DoorWorthy
