Updated October 7, 2026. Quick answer: Hawaii’s estate tax exclusion is $5,490,000 for deaths in 2026, and the Department of Taxation’s instructions set the same $5,490,000 for every death on or after January 1, 2018 with no end date, so it also applies to 2027 unless the Legislature changes it. The federal exclusion is $15,000,000 for 2026.
Hawaii estate tax exemption: 2026 and 2027 at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Exemption, 2026 deaths | $5,490,000 |
| How it is set | Set by Hawaii at a fixed figure in 2018, separate from the federal exclusion |
| 2027 figure | $5,490,000: the instructions set it for deaths on or after January 1, 2018, with no end date |
| Rates | 10.0% up to 20% on the amount over $10,000,000 |
| Return and deadline | Form M-6, due nine months after death |
| Federal basic exclusion amount, 2026 | $15,000,000 |
| Sources | Hawaii Department of Taxation; Hawaii Legislature; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
What changes in 2027
In 2018 Hawaii cut the link between its exclusion and the federal one. The Form M-6 instructions say the Hawaii applicable exclusion amount is $5,490,000 for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018, and the instructions give no end date and no inflation adjustment. The statute describes the amount by reference to the federal unified credit as it stood for a decedent who died on December 31, 2017, which is why the figure stays put. The statute then adjusts that amount: residents get 100 per cent of it, nonresidents get it multiplied by the fraction of the federal gross estate that is property in Hawaii, and the instructions say the exclusion is reduced by the federal adjusted taxable gifts the decedent made.
Federal law now sets a base of $15,000,000 for 2026, so the gap between Hawaii’s exclusion and the federal one is large.
How the Hawaii estate tax works
A Hawaii return can be required even when no federal return is, because the Hawaii exclusion is lower. The instructions say no Hawaii return is required if the taxable estate is $5,490,000 or less, except that the estate of a decedent with a surviving spouse must still file to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion. Form M-6 is due nine months after the date of death.
In the documents’ own words
- Instructions for Form M-6, Hawaii Estate Tax Return (Rev. 2025) (Hawaii Department of Taxation): “the Hawaii applicable exclusion amount is set at $5,490,000”
- Instructions for Form M-6, Hawaii Estate Tax Return (Rev. 2025) (Hawaii Department of Taxation): “decoupled the Hawaii applicable exclusion amount from the federal applicable exclusion amount”
- HRS 236E-6 Applicable exclusion amounts (Hawaii Legislature): “as if the decedent died on December 31, 2017, and as further adjusted pursuant to subsection (b)”
Hawaii estate tax rates as the state prints them
Copied from the state’s own document: The schedule is headed “as of January 1, 2020” in the instructions and applies to the amount they call the net taxable estate.
| Over | Up to | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $1,000,000 | 10.0% of the net taxable estate |
| $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $100,000 plus 11.0% of amount over $1,000,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $210,000 plus 12.0% of amount over $2,000,000 |
| $3,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $330,000 plus 13.0% of amount over $3,000,000 |
| $4,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $460,000 plus 14.0% of amount over $4,000,000 |
| $5,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $600,000 plus 15.7% of amount over $5,000,000 |
| $10,000,000 | and over | $1,385,000 plus 20% of amount over $10,000,000 |
How this compares with the federal exemption
Federal estate tax is separate. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, section 70106, increased the “basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026”. CMG’s page on the federal exemption for 2027 is the federal estate tax exemption for 2027. The state figure on this page is not the federal one: it is the amount at which Hawaii starts to tax an estate.
What the documents do not say
- The instructions read are the 2025 edition; no 2026 edition was found, so the 2026 figure rests on a rule that has no end date rather than on a 2026 notice.
- The statute’s section on the exclusion lists three alternative formulas and prints no dollar figure; the dollar figure comes from the Department’s instructions.
Common mistakes
- Using the federal $15,000,000 base for a Hawaii estate; Hawaii’s own exclusion is far lower.
- Skipping the return when only portability is at stake.
Related: Hawaii estate tax (2026), estate tax by state, the federal estate tax exemption for 2027, Hawaii probate cost, and Hawaii retirement taxes.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Form M-6, Hawaii Estate Tax Return (Rev. 2025): https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/current/m6ins.pdf
- HRS 236E-2 Definitions: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0236E/HRS_0236E-0002.htm
- HRS 236E-6 Applicable exclusion amounts: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0236E/HRS_0236E-0006.htm
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Service): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and an estate attorney, a tax preparer or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.