Eligible taxpayers will soon receive 2021 state tax rebates

Eligible taxpayers will start receiving up to $300 in tax rebates next week.

Earlier this year, Gov. David Ige signed a bill that would award taxpayers a refund on their 2021 tax returns.

The rebate, which is estimated to cost the state $250 million, serves both as a means of spending surplus general fund revenue and as “a recognition … that all of us have worked through COVID and … a way to support everyone,” Ige said earlier this year.

Under the terms of the bill, all those who filed a 2021 Hawaii income tax return and earn less than $100,000 a year will receive $300. Couples who filed their returns jointly and have a combined income of less than $200,000 a year also will receive $300.

All those whose income exceeds those thresholds will receive $100 instead.

Taxpayers who filed a state tax return before July 31 this year and requested a direct deposit refund will receive their rebate in September.

Those who requested a paper check refund will receive it in September or October. Those who filed it after July 31 will receive the rebate 10 to 12 weeks after the filing date.

Rebates will be issued in the order in which taxpayers filed their returns.