HB 2156 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TAXATION.

HB 2156 would raise the income or transaction thresholds that require businesses to file two specific taxes: the General Excise Tax (applied to most business activities) and the Transient Accommodations Tax (for short-term rentals like hotels or vacation homes). Businesses currently obligated to file below the new, higher thresholds would no longer need to file if their annual activity remains under the increased limit. This change directly affects small businesses and short-term rental operators who currently meet the lower filing requirements. The bill is pending committee referral as of January 2026, with no specific dollar amounts provided in the abstract.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Mar 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2156 → HB2156_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated to reflect House of Representatives approval (HD1) and changed the effective date of the new tax filing thresholds from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000. This delay prevents the immediate implementation of higher filing limits for small businesses, keeping current administrative requirements in place for the foreseeable future.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on General Excise Tax and Transient Accommodations Tax, but the applicability of the proposed threshold increases is now indefinitely postponed.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new tax filing thresholds was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000, effectively delaying the policy change indefinitely.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and version number were updated to indicate House approval (HD1), and metadata regarding authorship and timestamps were altered.

Minor formatting changes were made to the text layout, including line breaks and capitalization of the bill's purpose statement.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 84).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from TOU/ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 410-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on TOU recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Tam, Templo, Hussey, Ilagan, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to TOU/ECD, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

7 primary · 0 co-sponsors