Originally Posted by timrick (Post 7744069)

I was doing some reading on Hawaii for a coming trip, and was puzzled by this "exercise tax". This is what wikipedia says

"Hawaii does not technically have a sales tax, but it does have an excise tax which applies to nearly every conceivable type of transaction (including services), and is technically charged to the business rather than the consumer. Unlike other states, businesses may or may not show the tax separately on the receipt, as it is technically part of the selling price."

every conceivable type of transaction? If I buy a gift card, does that mean I have to pay this excise tax too? And how about when I use the card?

Originally Posted by wikipedia.org

An unusual example of an excise tax is found in the State of Hawaii. In lieu of a sales tax, the State of Hawaii imposes a General Excise Tax, or GET, on all business activity in the State. The GET is charged at a rate of 4% for most businesses and 0.5% for wholesalers. The tax is imposed on all business entities, so in essence, the tax is collected at every level of production (material supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer) producing a "cascade effect" effectively adding 16-18% to the price of consumables purchased at retail. The GET is also charged on all business service activity such as real estate agent commissions, lawyer fees and the like. With Hawaii's industry heavily dependent on tourism and tourist spending, the State regularly raises nearly half its government revenues through the imposition of the General Excise Tax.