Your 2025 Taxes Are Done. Your Refund Might Not Be

By Maria Sherow

The tax season is over, but did you leave up to $220 on the table because you skipped Form N-311?

If you live in Puna and you already mailed in your 2025 Hawaii state tax return, you might assume the matter is closed because the paperwork is done and the refund, if any, is already spent on groceries or the electric bill. Yet for thousands of residents across Hawaii, the filing deadline was not the end of the story because Form N-311, the Refundable Food/Excise Tax Credit, goes unclaimed each year, even though it was designed for households that feel the weight of the general excise tax every time they leave Island Naturals or Malama Market.

What Form N-311 Really Is
Form N-311 exists because the state recognizes that the 4% general excise tax applies to nearly everything we buy, which means families who are already stretching each paycheck end up paying tax on groceries and medicine before they ever sit down to calculate income tax. When lawmakers created the credit, they made it refundable so that a family or an individual who owes no income tax can still receive money back. That detail matters for kupuna on fixed incomes and for young parents who work two jobs yet still qualify under the income limits.

The credit provides up to $220 for single filers earning under $15,000, then the credit decreases as income rises and phases out at $40,000. For joint filers, married filing separately, and heads of household, the phase-out extends to $60,000. You must also have lived in Hawaii for more than nine months in 2025 and not be claimed as a dependent by anyone else.

How You Can Still Claim It
Although April’s deadline has passed, the state of Hawaii gives taxpayers until December 31, 2026 to amend their 2025 return and request the money they are owed. If you filed through an online service such as TurboTax, H&R Block, FreeTaxUSA, or TaxSlayer, the simplest path is to log back into that same account because most platforms have an “Amend Return” tool that will pull your original data, let you add Form N-311, and generate the completed Form N-188X for you to e-file or print. When you use the online service, the software walks you through the new credit step by step and recalculates your refund so you can see exactly how much the state owes you before you submit.

If you filed by mail or prefer to handle it yourself, the Hawaii Department of Taxation’s Forms Request Line is happy to help. A quick call to 808-587-4242 (or 1-800-222-3229 toll-free) between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday will get Form N-311, Form N-188X, and Schedule AMD to you. Just let them know you are looking to amend a 2025 individual income tax return.

Why This Matters in Puna
In a place where many residents travel long distances just to see a doctor, and where a single storm can set a household budget back by weeks, an extra $220 is not a small thing. This credit can mean a car repair that does not have to go on a credit card, a utility bill paid on time, or simply a little breathing room during a month that already felt tight before it started.  It was designed for exactly the kind of hardworking households that make up this community, and when it goes unclaimed, that money simply does not go where it was intended.

One Last Thing
Amending a return takes maybe an hour, and the window to do it stays open through December 31, 2026. For anyone who opens their 2025 return and finds Form N-311 missing, that hour could be one of the more worthwhile ones this year.