Hawaii Homestead Exemption: Amount, Filing & Savings

Hawaii has no statewide property-tax homestead exemption. Each county writes its own “home exemption” into its ordinances: Honolulu subtracts $120,000 from an owner-occupant’s assessed value ($160,000 at 65), Kauai $220,000, Maui $300,000; Hawaii County $50,000 plus 20% of assessed value, up to $100,000 more. You file once, with your own county.

That split is constitutional. Article VIII, section 3 of the Hawaii Constitution says “all functions, powers and duties relating to the taxation of real property shall be exercised exclusively by the counties, with the exception of the county of Kalawao.” So the amount, the age tiers, the filing date and the penalty for not reporting a move all change when you cross a channel. The only statewide “homestead” statute is a different law entirely: HRS § 651-92, which shields a small slice of equity from judgment creditors and is covered at the end of this page.

Four county home exemptions side by side

The dollar figures reduce taxable value, not the bill itself. What an exemption is worth in cash depends on the county’s rate for your tax class, which you can plug into the property tax calculator. The Hawaii property tax guide covers rates and classes.

Oahu: $120,000 now, $140,000 from July 2027

Under ROH § 8-10.3(a), “$120,000 of the total assessed value is exempt” for a home “owned and occupied as the owner’s principal home as of the date of assessment.” Subsection (d) raises that to $160,000 for a taxpayer “65 years of age or over on or before June 30 preceding the tax year.” The Real Property Assessment Division now posts the next step: “Effective July 1, 2027, the home exemption amounts change to $140,000, or $180,000 if the owner is 65 or older.” The claim is due by September 30 each year, for the tax year that begins the following July 1.

The ordinance attaches these conditions to every Oahu claim:

• no exemption for “any corporation, copartnership, or company”;
• not more than one home for any one taxpayer;
• a deed dated on or after July 1, 1951 must be recorded “on or before September 30 immediately preceding the year for which the exemption is claimed”;
• spouses cannot exempt separate homes “unless they are living separate and apart, in which case each is entitled to one-half of one exemption”;
• a portion used for commercial purposes gets no exemption, but the part “used exclusively as a home” still does.

The claim is Form BFS-RP-E-8-10.3, filed online, at the Honolulu or Kapolei office, or by mail. Its instructions give the timing in one line: “file on or before September 30, 2025 for the tax year beginning July 1, 2026.” It is “a one-time filing.” The division tells co-owners that each title holder living in the home should file, so the exemption survives if the first claimant dies. A trustee gets the exemption where the settlor occupies the home, or where, after the settlor’s death, a beneficiary “entitled to live in the home under the terms of the trust document” does.

Changes in ownership, use or status must be reported within 30 days. The division’s brochure adds: “A penalty of $300 will be imposed if the change occurred in the 12 months ending September 30 preceding the tax year and the report is not filed by the following November 1.”

Kauai, Maui and the Big Island each run their own claim

Kauai: Form P-3 and a separate income-based add-on

Kauai’s assessment office describes an exemption of $220,000, rising to $240,000 for a taxpayer “at least sixty (60) years of age, but not yet seventy (70)” and to $260,000 at 70. The ownership must be recorded, and Form P-3 filed, “on or before SEPTEMBER 30th preceding the tax years for which you claim the exemption.” A filed Hawaii resident return (N-11) with a Kauai address for the prior year is required. Owners whose gross income does not exceed 80% of the Kauai median household income can add $120,000 more, but “YOU MUST APPLY ANNUALLY FOR THIS ADDITIONAL EXEMPTION.” The form warns of a “penalty of up to $200 for each year” for not reporting that you stopped qualifying.

Maui: December 31 and a yearly tax-return condition

Maui’s claim form for the 2026 assessment year states the exemption “reduces taxable assessed value by $300,000 and reclassifies property for tax rate purposes into the Owner-occupied class.” The form gives the deadline as “December 31 of the preceding assessment year,” and the exemption “will take effect January 1 after a claim has been filed. The change in taxes will take effect on the subsequent July 1.” The county code now adds a late branch: owners who file “after December 31 preceding the tax year, and by September 30 of the tax year, may qualify for half of the exemption and the owner-occupied classification, subject to a 25 percent late filing penalty on the amended taxes, provided the claimant meets the requirements of section 3.48.450 as of January 1 preceding the tax year” (MCC 3.48.410(D)). The conditions “Must be met annually”: more than 270 days of occupancy, no renting of “the entire premises for any portion of the year,” and a Hawaii resident income tax return with a Maui County address. The ordinance denies the exemption where taxes “are delinquent for a period of more than one year,” except on tracts leased under section 207 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (MCC 3.48.450(G)). Missing a change-of-status report brings disqualification and a civil penalty of “$200 or the amount of the taxes on the property computed without the claim for exemption as of January 1 of the year in which the report was due, whichever is lesser” (MCC 3.48.425(D)).

Hawaii County: two filing windows

On the Big Island, RP Form 19-71 goes in “on or before December 31 preceding the tax year for the first half payment or June 30 for the second half payment.” The county handout sets the age tiers in the table above “with age calculated as of January 1, the date of the assessment.” On top of the age tier, HCC § 19-71(f) gives every qualifying home “an additional exemption of twenty percent of the assessed value of the property not to exceed an additional $100,000.” Occupancy must exceed 200 days a year, and a rental of under 180 days on any portion costs the Homeowner tax class and its 3% assessment cap. A fraudulent claim is “fined $1,000.”

HRS § 651-92: the creditor homestead

This part of state law has nothing to do with tax. It limits what a judgment creditor can take through attachment or execution. Section 651-92(a) exempts:

• an interest in one parcel in Hawaii “of a fair market value not exceeding $30,000,” owned by a defendant who is “either the head of a family or an individual sixty-five years of age or older”;
• an interest in one parcel “of a fair market value not exceeding $20,000” owned by any other defendant “who is a person.”

The value is set by appraisal and counts only equity “over and above all liens and encumbrances on the real property recorded prior to the lien under which attachment or execution is to be made.” Only one exemption per parcel, even if several people living there would qualify. Subsection (b) lists what the exemption never stops:

1. “A lien as provided by section 507-42”;
2. “A lien or security interest created by a mortgage, security agreement, or other security instrument”;
3. “A tax lien in the name of the federal or state government”;
4. “An improvement district lien of any county of the State”; or
5. “A lien or encumbrance recorded against the real property prior to the acquisition of interest in and commencement of residence on such real property.”

In the February 2026 copy of the section, the history note ends at “am L 1978, c 46, §7.”

Questions Hawaii owners ask

I bought on Oahu this month. Which tax year does my claim cover?

The one that starts the next July 1 after the September 30 you file by. The deed must be recorded by that September 30 as well. From the tax year beginning July 1, 2027, the amount is $140,000, or $180,000 at 65 or older.

Does my exemption follow me from Maui to Honolulu?

No. Each county grants its own, and Honolulu’s form asks whether you hold a home exemption anywhere else. Hawaii County puts it bluntly: a claim will not “be transferred from your former residence.” File a new claim with the county where the new home sits.

Do I re-file every year?

Not for the base exemption, in any of the four counties, as long as you keep meeting the conditions. Maui still expects a Hawaii resident income tax return every year, and Kauai’s income-based add-on must be filed each year by September 30.

Can a creditor force the sale of my house?

HRS § 651-92 protects at most $30,000 of appraised equity, and none of it against a mortgage, a government tax lien, a county improvement-district lien, a section 507-42 lien or a lien recorded before you acquired the home and moved in.

More on buying and owning in the state: Hawaii real estate overview, Hawaii closing costs in 2026, homeowner insurance in Hawaii, compare state taxes, homestead exemptions by state.