Question: Does the city still mail out property tax notices, or do we have to check online? I didn’t get anything this year.
Answer: Yes to your first question; about 307,000 Real Property Notices of Assessment for the 2025-26 tax year were distributed to Oahu property owners last week, by mail or email, according to the city. Only property owners who had signed up for electronic delivery were sent emails; others were mailed notices through the U.S. Postal Service, according to a news release from Honolulu’s Real Property Assessment Division.
Although you don’t have to check online, you should be able to find your notice there, via real property.honolulu.gov.
If you don’t receive your notice by mail or email (if you subscribed for that) by Dec. 31, call RPAD at 808-768-7000, the news release said. If you had signed up for email notification, check your spam or junk folder.
To be clear, these notices are not tax bills; they state a property’s assessed value for the upcoming tax year.
Q: Can motorcycles drive between cars on the freeway when there is traffic? Is this legal?
A: Some do it but it’s not legal, according to Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-153, which says in subsection (b) that “the operator of a motorcycle shall not overtake and pass in the same lane occupied by the vehicle being overtaken” and in subsection (c) that “no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles.”
These subsections do not apply to police officers on the job.
Q: The IRS is waiving late-payment fees for some Maui fire victims because the post office also burned and notices weren’t mailed on balances due. But what about people who got online accounts with the IRS to keep up with their taxes and paid the penalties?
A: “Eligible taxpayers who already fully paid these penalties will benefit from the relief, too. If the penalties have been paid, the IRS will issue a refund or credit the payment toward another outstanding tax liability,” the Internal Revenue Service said in a Dec. 12 news release.
A total of nearly 600 Maui taxpayers will benefit from this penalty relief, which averages about $500 per taxpayer, the IRS said. This relief is automatic; eligible taxpayers don’t need to take any action to receive it, the agency said.
The IRS is waiving the penalties because “due to the widespread damage and closure of postal facilities, the IRS did not mail the initial notice, typically the CP14 notice, to taxpayers who filed a balance due return in Maui and Hawaii counties, between Aug. 17, 2023, and Jan. 30, 2024. As a result, the IRS is removing any failure to pay penalties added to balance due tax periods from the date the IRS would have normally mailed the notice until the date the penalties were fully paid or through Dec. 30, 2024, whichever is earlier,” the news release said.
The IRS will mail affected taxpayers a notice “in the next couple of weeks” telling them their penalties were removed and any refund amounts or balances due remaining on the affected tax years, it said. Interest due is not reduced by this relief.
“Qualifying taxpayers with an impacted disaster address on the day the notice would normally have been issued are eligible, regardless of if their address has changed since then,” it said.
MAHALO
We are expressing our deepest gratitude to Lisa and Andy of First Hawaiian Bank in Aina Haina. We needed to do an important banking transaction but did not know how/what to do. Lisa and Andy patiently and kindly guided us through the entire process. We love being greeted by your smiles and genuine concern about how things are going with us whenever we visit the bank. You obviously love your jobs! May you be blessed for the caring service you provide.
— Mahalo and aloha, the Youngs
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
