7 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 1 more.
How to open a business in Hawaii
7 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
What licenses do you need to open a business in Hawaii? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Hawaii takes. A license specific to your kind of business comes from the agency that regulates it; if one of the twenty named businesses is close to yours, its page lists those too.
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 7 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Log in to save it to your account and pick it up anywhere.
Set 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
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- cca.hawaii.gov
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Before the first hireOpens after step 3
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the businesses already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a business at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The business 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; Unemployment Insurance Division 2026 contribution rate table; Disability Compensation Division 2026 maximum weekly wage base notice; HRS chapters 386, 392, 393 and 576D. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.