HB 2590 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO TAXATION.

Summary

Imposes the manufacturing general excise tax rate on motion picture, digital media, and film productions and repeals the provision in the definition of "qualified production costs" that applied the term to mean costs incurred that are subject to the highest general excise tax rate. Exempts from the general excise tax certain amounts received by a motion picture project employer from a client company equal to amounts that are disbursed by the motion picture project employer for employee wages, salaries, payroll taxes, insurance premiums, and employment benefits and payments to loan-out companies. Requires persons making payment to a loan-out company and claiming the Motion Picture, Digital Media, and Film Production Income Tax Credit to deduct and withhold an amount exceeding the amount actually due for all payments made to the loan-out company for services performed in the State. Applies to taxable years beginning after 12/31/2026. Effective 7/1/3050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2590_HD1 → HB2590_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the Hawaii General Excise Tax and Income Tax statutes to refine definitions for film production, clarify tax obligations for manufacturers, and adjust exemptions for professional and motion picture employers. The changes primarily involve technical formatting updates to align with new legislative templates, minor clarifications to tax calculation language, and a significant extension of the bill's effective date from the year 3000 to 3050.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on film production tax credits and general excise tax, but the applicability timeline is extended by 50 years due to a clerical correction in the effective date.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to July 1, 3050, correcting a clerical error in the original version.

DEFINITION

Added the term "production" to the definition of taxable activities in Section 235-17 to explicitly include film and digital media production alongside traditional manufacturing.

REQUIREMENT

Updated language in Section 237-13 to clarify that "productions" are subject to the same tax measurement rules as other manufactured goods.

EXEMPTIONS

Restructured the exemption for motion picture project employers in Section 237-24.75 to explicitly separate allowable wage reimbursements from non-exempt service fees and markups.

TECHNICAL

Updated document headers, revision numbers, and formatting styles to match the new Senate Draft template.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Mar 24, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3148) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDT were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) DeCoite, Wakai, Fukunaga; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kim, Fevella.

upper

Mar 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on EDT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-17-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDT, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 122).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 2, 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; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 429-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Holt, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

8 primary · 0 co-sponsors