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Online Resources

 * Tax Assessment and Colletion Ledge
 * 1840-1896 - Census Collection which includes early tax records officer Records, census returns, tables and statistical notes, and a few birth, death and marriage statistics.

Why Use Tax Records
Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence.

County Level
The Hawaii State Archives has both personal and property tax records for Hawaii (1855'93), Kauai (1855'92), Lanai (1855'92), Maui (1887'92), Molokai (1855'92), and Oahu (1855'1929). These tax records are not indexed and are incomplete. The early tax records are a poll tax only. The tax records were taken on a division basis with each island divided into many divisions. It is necessary to know the correct division in order to search these records.

State Level
Property tax records and tax maps were moved from state to county control about 1980. Tax maps dating as early as the 1920s are on microfilm at the Real Property Assessment Office. The address for the City and County of Honolulu is 842 Bethel St., Honolulu, HI 96813.

The Hawaii State Tax Office has a map room with tax maps beginning in 1932. These tax maps give the names of owners, estate heirs, and field books. The field books give the title history and its book and page numbers, which are found in the Bureau of Conveyances.

Tax Laws
What history has shown us is that while property taxes are locally levied, there is significant state involvement with the amount of tax local political subdivisions can levy, how property assessments are conducted, and what services local taxing subdivisions must provide for their residents. Many of the changes the state has made in the past to lower the local property tax required a shift in financial responsibility from the local governments to the state. This comes at a cost to state taxpayers, because the state has obligations it must fund as well, with a limited amount of state tax dollars.