Checked for Hawaii against the sources linked below, as of 2026-08-24 — and the one question that decides everything: does Hawaii bill the years you missed?
Lapsed years bill separately here.
Hawaii registers through the COUNTY - the director of finance of the City and County of Honolulu, or of Hawaii, Maui or Kauai county - and the money splits about 70/30 county to state. A lapse is billed by the month, not written off: HRS 249-5.5 says that where plates are surrendered after the registration period has expired, 'the unpaid tax for each month the license plates could have been validated with an emblem' must be paid in full. On top of that sits a delinquency penalty whose AMOUNT HRS 249-10 hands to 'the county's legislative body' - so there is no statewide penalty figure to look up. Honolulu's council has set it at an annual flat rate of $16.00 for a passenger vehicle ($8 county weight tax penalty plus $8 state weight tax penalty); the word 'annual' is what makes it stack, and the other three counties may have set something different. The base bill is equally split-sourced: the state registration fee ($46) and state weight tax (1.75 cents a pound up to 4,000 lbs) are statutory, but the county weight tax RATE is fixed by each county council by ordinance under HRS 249-13 after a public hearing, and no state table exists.
If the affidavit, certificate of registration, license plates, and emblem are presented to the director of finance after the expiration of the vehicle's registration period, then the unpaid tax for each month the license plates could have been validated with an emblem plus the fee for the currently issued license plates and emblem shall be paid in full upon presenting the affidavit.
The county director of finance MAY make payment of the delinquent tax and penalty a condition of transferring ownership as well as of registering or renewing - so in Hawaii the arrears can be made to follow the car to a buyer, at the director's discretion. Note the word 'may'. This is a discretionary power vested in each county's director of finance, not an automatic lien like Nevada's.
Fee rules change and some figures depend on your county or town — confirm with the agency above before paying anything. This is plain-language help with a lapse, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.
Back to all Hawaii seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Hawaii involves. Compare every state on the 50-state lapse table.