RE: Imposition of Penalty for Underpayment of Estimated Taxes
The Department of Taxation reminds taxpayers of the provisions contained
in Hawaii's Income Tax Law relating to the payment of estimated taxes and
penalties for an underpayment of such taxes. The Department will emphasize
enforcing these provisions for tax years beginning January 1, 1993. Individual
taxpayers making declarations of and paying estimated taxes should use
Form N-1 for this purpose. Corporate taxpayers should use Form N-3, and
Estates and Trusts should use Form N-5. All of these forms are available
from the Department of Taxation.
Penalties for the underpayment of estimated taxes will be imposed under section 235-97(f), Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the exception discussed later in this Tax Announcement does not apply, or if a taxpayer's tax liability exceeds $100 after the application of (1) available credits, taxes withheld on wages, or real property sales, and (2) the overpayment of taxes applied to the current year from the taxpayer's prior year's income tax return. The penalty for the underpayment of estimated taxes shall be assessed at the rate of 8 percent a year upon the amount of the underpayment for the period of the underpayment.
Amount of Underpayment
For the purposes of the penalty for the underpayment of estimated taxes,
the amount of underpayment shall be the excess of:
Taxes withheld from wages are considered payments of estimated tax
made in equal installments on the due date for the payment of estimated
tax, unless the taxpayer establishes the dates on which all amounts were
withheld, in which case, the amounts withheld shall be considered payments
of estimated tax on the dates the tax was withheld. Taxes withheld on the
sale of Hawaii real property, for which the taxpayer has not requested
a refund prior to filing the taxpayer's income tax return, shall be considered
a payment of estimated taxes on the date received as indicated on the Department's
acknowledgment letter to the seller of Hawaii real property.
Period of Underpayment
The period of underpayment shall run from the date the installment was
required to be paid to the earlier of:
Exception
The penalty for underpayment of estimated tax shall not be imposed if
the total amount of all payments of estimated tax made on, or before, the
required installment payment date equals or exceeds the lesser of:
b. An amount equal to the tax computed at the rates applicable to the current taxable year on the basis of the facts shown on the taxpayer's Hawaii income tax return for, and the law applicable to, the preceding taxable year, if a return for that preceding taxable year was filed, and on the basis of an individual taxpayer's status with respect to personal exemptions for the taxable year, or
c. An amount equal to 70 percent (50 percent for corporations)
of the tax for the taxable year computed by annualizing the adjusted gross
income and taxable income for the months in the taxable year ending before
the month in which the installment is required to be paid. The adjusted
gross income and taxable income are annualized by: