Hawaiʻi’s tax rolls are carrying tens of thousands of unpaid accounts, ranging from a stray $5 transient accommodations charge all the way up to a single entry that clears $20 million. The sheer size of the backlog, plus a few very familiar names on the list, is once again raising questions about how aggressively the state spots and chases old tax debts.
The list comes from a spreadsheet obtained through a public records request and was current as of Dec. 10, according to Civil Beat. The outlet pared the data into an interactive view so readers can zero in on accounts with balances of $50,000 or more and see the names and figures reported by the Department of Taxation.
Roughly 45,000 accounts show up in the dataset, and about 33,000 of them owe less than $10,000, with the smallest unpaid balance set at $5. The spreadsheet lists some recognizable figures, including Republican state Rep. David A. Alcos III with more than $1.5 million, Kauaʻi Rep. Luke Evslin at about $57,000, former CEO Dennis Mitsunaga with over $3 million and TV personality Duane Chapman at more than $85,000. It also highlights an account labeled “Shareholders Mythics Emergent Group” with a balance exceeding $20 million, according to Civil Beat. “Our main focus is really to help the taxpayer,” Dongyan Wen, the tax department’s collections branch chief, told the outlet.
How the State Tries to Collect
The Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation has plenty of tools when bills go unpaid. The agency can garnish wages, record liens against property or vehicles, move toward foreclosure and intercept federal tax refunds to collect what is owed. Taxpayers who cannot cover the full amount at once can ask for an installment agreement or other arrangements, but the department cautions that interest and penalties keep piling up until the balance hits zero. For more on payment plans and the rules that come with them, see guidance from the Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation.
Legal Limits and Public Records
State law requires the tax department to prepare and maintain a public record of assessed amounts that have gone delinquent, a duty spelled out in the state code. At the same time, other parts of the tax code treat returns and return information as confidential, which is why officials will not say, for example, whether a particular account is on a payment plan. The obligation to keep delinquent tax records is detailed in Hawaii Revised Statutes §231-32, while restrictions on disclosing return information appear in Hawaii Revised Statutes §235-116.
What’s Changing
Hawaiʻi has a 15‑year statute of limitations on collecting tax debts, and lawmakers recently stepped in to clarify how old liens should be handled under that timeline. A local tax policy group has explained the change and noted that the Legislature passed a bill, now cited as Act 68 of 2025, that is intended to require the department to release some liens tied to old, uncollectible debts. Portions of that law are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. The Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i has followed the legislation and its impact on long standing liens.
Bottom Line for Residents
Most accounts on the list are relatively small, but the eye popping balances at the top, combined with questions about the statute of limitations and lien releases, give the data more than just curiosity value. The spreadsheet is a snapshot, since amounts shift as interest accrues and payments come in, and taxpayers who suspect they might be on it can look over department guidance or contact the collections branch to ask about payment plans or other options. The Hawaiʻi Department of Taxation explains how installment agreements work and what happens if a taxpayer falls behind on one.
