Serving Honolulu & All Islands Since 1969
Payroll processing, tax filings, direct deposit, and bookkeeping from a Honolulu team that knows Hawaii.
What We Do
If you run a business in Hawaii, payroll is not plug-and-play. From federal and state tax payments to year-end filings, local details matter. We have handled those details since 1969.
Accurate payroll every pay period — calculations, direct deposit, checks, and reports. Enter hours online yourself, or let us take care of data entry.
Accurate, current financial records that give you a real picture of your business. Expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial statements — all managed for you.
Federal and Hawaii filings handled end to end: tax deposits, HW-14, UC-B6, W-2s, 1099s, and annual reconciliations. Deadlines stay covered.
See what is included, how Hawaii payroll works, and why local support matters.
Keep your books current, organized, and ready for your CPA or tax preparer.
Read our Hawaii payroll articles, deadlines, and employer guidance.
Use the calculator and W-4 helper to estimate net pay and withholding.
Why This Matters
Hawaii has its own rules — and mainland payroll companies get them wrong. A lot.
Hawaii businesses run on relationships, responsiveness, and local understanding. That’s where mainland providers often miss the mark. We’re a local company that works with local companies in the style Hawaii owners expect — direct, dependable, and personal.
Hawaii withholding and UI filings have their own forms and deadlines. We file with the Hawaii Department of Taxation every quarter — on time, every time.
Hawaii has more payroll obligations than most states. We handle the complexity so you don’t have to track every deadline, rate, and filing yourself — your records and reporting stay organized.
Hawaii payroll is more complex than most business owners expect before they hire their first employee. The state stacks five separate layers of tax and compliance on top of each other: federal FICA (7.65%), federal FUTA (net 0.6%), Hawaii state income tax withholding across 12 brackets ranging from 1.4% to 11%, State Unemployment Insurance, and Temporary Disability Insurance. Each layer has its own agency, its own forms, and its own deadlines. Missing any one of them creates a separate problem with a separate set of penalties.
The withholding side alone requires attention to forms that differ from federal templates. Hawaii employees complete Form HW-4 to set state withholding allowances — using the federal W-4 in its place is a common error. Employers report and deposit withholding on Form HW-14. For most small businesses, HW-14 filings are monthly, with the return and payment due by the 20th of the following month. Employers whose annual withholding liability reaches $40,000 or more move to a semi-weekly deposit schedule. High-liability employers also need to track the deposit deadline carefully: for semi-weekly filers, deposits for Wednesday through Friday wages are due the following Wednesday; Monday through Tuesday wages are due the following Friday. The annual reconciliation, Form HW-3, is due February 28 and must match W-2 totals — mismatches trigger DOTAX review.
Hawaii's Unemployment Insurance system uses experience ratings, but new employers start at 2.4% on a $62,000 taxable wage base — the highest SUI wage base in the country. Once you accumulate enough history, your rate can move anywhere between 0.00% and 5.60% depending on your claims record. Every termination that results in a UI claim affects your experience rating, which in turn affects your UI cost for the next rate period. UI filings go to DLIR quarterly on Form UC-B6. Workers' compensation is also mandatory in Hawaii for any business with at least one employee — no minimum headcount, no exceptions. DLIR's Disability Compensation Division administers coverage requirements, and operating without a policy puts you at risk of a stop-work order and fines up to $10,000.
The Prepaid Health Care Act is the Hawaii requirement that surprises mainland employers most. No other state in the U.S. requires it: any employee working 20 or more hours per week for four consecutive weeks must receive employer-provided health insurance. The employee's share of the premium cannot exceed 1.5% of their gross wages — the employer pays the rest. There is no small-business exemption based on headcount. DLIR enforces the PHCA, and violations result in orders to pay back premiums plus interest. The penalty is not a fine per se — DLIR can order you to retroactively cover the months you should have been providing coverage, which adds up fast for a multi-employee business that went uninsured for a year.
Temporary Disability Insurance adds another layer. TDI covers employees who can't work due to a non-work illness or injury. The employee-side deduction is capped at $7.16 per week in 2026; employers either purchase a private TDI policy or use the state plan through DLIR. Getting TDI coverage wrong — or missing it entirely — creates both civil and administrative exposure. Hawaii's minimum wage stands at $16.00 per hour as of January 1, 2026, with no traditional tip credit. Employers are responsible for the gap if an employee's tips don't bring their effective hourly rate up to minimum wage.
Key 2026 Hawaii payroll figures at a glance:
For employers who want a deeper look at Hawaii's filing calendar, the how to run payroll in Hawaii guide walks through each step, and the Honolulu small business payroll checklist organizes all the recurring deadlines in one place. Pacific Data Services has handled these filings for Hawaii businesses since 1969 — talk to the local team here.
The Real Story
Thousands of reviews. Same story. ADP and Paychex consistently fail small businesses.
“If you’re under 50 employees you are NOT best served by ADP. If you ever want any customer service, you’re hosed.”
“We feel misled, and honestly scammed. Once enrolled you are locked into a contract even when ADP is not meeting its obligations.”
“There’s no transparency. They always try to sign you up for unnecessary services. You end up getting a different bill every month.”
“This is the worst company we have experienced in 40+ years. Impossible to talk to a human. Once they have your bank info, you are screwed.”
“Constantly overcharged for things that shouldn’t cost that much. Bad customer service even though you have an assigned account manager.”
“First week in — overcharged five times. We are pulling our business to a payroll company with a better reputation.”
Pacific Data Services has served Hawaii businesses since 1969.
You get a real person who knows your business — not a call center, not a contract you can’t escape, not a different bill every month.
Talk to a Local Expert →Full Coverage
Hand it off completely. We cover everything so you can focus on running your business.
* Bookkeeping is available as an optional add-on service.
Aloha — We're Your Neighbors
PDS has been part of the Hawaii business community since 1969. We're not a franchise, not a national brand, and not a company that learned Hawaii payroll last year. We know it because we've done it — right here on Oahu — for over half a century.
Get a Free Quote →Our Story
Pacific Data Services was founded in Honolulu by Phil Bennet in 1969. Back then, small Hawaii businesses had little choice but to pay mainland companies that didn't understand island life, Hawaii law, or local business culture.
Phil changed that. He built PDS on aloha spirit — personal service, local expertise, and fair pricing with no mainland runaround. Eric Bennet has carried that torch since 1984. Same values. Same commitment. Same Honolulu address.
Read Our Story →Get Started
No long holds. No mainland call center. Just a quick conversation with our Honolulu team — we'll get back to you fast with a straight answer and a fair price.
No commitment. No contracts. Just straight answers from people who know Hawaii payroll.