Hawaii Vehicle Registration and Weight Tax Exemption

HRS 249-6 exempts a qualifying disabled veteran from the state vehicle registration fee, which is $46, on one vehicle. Three conditions apply together: Hawaii residency, an honorable discharge, and a 100 percent service-connected disability rating from VA. The detail that costs people money is that the exemption has to be renewed annually. It is not attached permanently to the veteran or the vehicle. A veteran who claims it once and then renews registration on autopilot will pay the fee again, and recovering it afterwards is harder than claiming it on time. The exemption covers the state registration fee. County registration charges and the vehicle weight tax are levied separately, and an exemption from one is not an exemption from the others, so ask the county what remains due. The Office of Veterans' Services also notes an exemption covering a passenger car owned by a totally disabled veteran where the vehicle was subsidized by the Department of Veterans Affairs. That path keys to the federal automobile allowance rather than to a rating percentage on its own. A nonresident active duty service member stationed in Hawaii, and a Hawaii resident service member, are exempt from the vehicle weight tax on one vehicle. That is a separate provision from the disabled veteran exemption and has no rating condition. Apply through the county motor vehicle registration office for the island where the vehicle is registered, with the VA rating documentation and the discharge document.