Updated October 4, 2026. Quick answer: No, for most military retirees. The 2025 Form N-11 instructions list “Pension or annuity distributions from a public (i.e., government) retirement system”, with military pension named as an example, among distributions Hawaii does not tax, with no dollar cap printed.
More state retirement-income schedules, line by line: Hawaii Form N-11 line 13.
How Hawaii treats military retired pay
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Not taxed by Hawaii; entered on line 13 of Form N-11 |
| Exception | A pension is taxed where voluntary contributions were made by an employee under an elective right |
| Cap or age | None printed |
| Rates | The 2025 schedules print rates from 1.40% to 11.00% of taxable income, which apply to income other than this pay |
A $30,000 example
A retiree with $30,000 of military retired pay from a public retirement system, and no voluntary elective-right contributions, enters it on line 13 as not taxed, so none of that pay is left to tax.
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What changes in 2026
No 2026 change is printed in the documents read.
Federal rules
The state’s treatment sits on top of the federal one. The IRS explains the federal side in Publication 3, Armed Forces’ Tax Guide.
Related: whether Hawaii taxes pensions, how Hawaii taxes retirement income, military retirement pay by state, and the military retirement calculator.
Sources
- Instructions for Form N-11 (Rev 2025): https://files.hawaii.gov/tax/forms/current/n11ins.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 4, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.