Hawaii State Department Of Taxation

Yes, the reviews here are true. Except for Dennis M.‘s. He obviously has some top secret political connections, works there, or is George freaking Clooney.
DOTAX sent me a letter saying I didn’t send them some documents, but in a ninja move, didn’t say what documents they were talking about. All the documents were with my tax return when I mailed it, so I’m not sure what happened. My taxes are pretty simple and straight forward, so there really shouldn’t be any problems. Gave them a call, three different times, three different days, and no one answered the phone. There is no way to leave a message, just an automated message after you waste a lot of time toggling through the menu that says to call back later.
So I sent them an email — their address is hard to find;
at
— asking them how to reach them by phone: just keep calling is what they said. Brilliant. Nothing is more enjoyable than getting the run around a mobius strip twisted into a giant, endless labyrinth.
Called back again. Now the message says nine customers ahead of me, but at least they feel like taking calls this time. After five minutes of waiting, the automated voice that says «mayhalo for waiting» tells me there are eleven customers ahead of me. Blargh. ??? HOW.
Dennis M. and George Clooney must have called in.
Ten minutes elapsed.
Eleven.
Fifteen. Tapping finger…
Twenty. YouTubing cat videos…
Twenty-​eight. Banging head against desk…
Call dropped. Just joking, thank god!
Well, at least they are nice once you get someone on the phone. I almost don’t want to write this review now, but all signs point to they lost my form and there’s at least a day of my life and copy and postage fees I will never see again, so one star!
Thought doing taxes was pretty miserable already, but replacing lost tax forms is way worse! Thank the bean counting heavens if you never have to deal with this, but if you’re reading this review… Well, at least it’s something to do while waiting.
You can also watch paint dry in this video of someone painting more than a hundred coats of nail polish on their nails:
Thank you, mindless, yet fascinating, first-​world interweb entertainment.

Well my experience was quite different. A nice lady answered the phone and she was able to tell me my refund was mailed. I would give them 5 stars but I wanted the money directly deposited and they mailed a check instead She said for first time filers the check gets mailed. Obviously if the check doesn’t show this review will change.

Over the years this place has gotten worse and worse. Back in 2010 I got my returned right away and no hassles. This year I filed literally no later than January 15. When I called, they tell me they have everything they are waiting to process it. I finally got something in the mail but it was gibberish. Nothing was clear in the note aside from them deducting more money from me. It didn’t even indicate what for just that my refund would be lower. When I called they told me that if I wanted to dispute it then I would have to send in an amended tax return which could take 16 weeks. That means not until September would it processed. I ended up leaving it the way it was because I can’t wait any longer. I still haven’t gotten any refund to date for 2015.

Refunds take forever even if
Done electronically. But when you owe them money they hound you until you pay it off.

So embarrassing… phone lines takes you through a series of automated functions. Unfortunately, those functions were of no help and needed to speak to a «live» human being. I’m still on hold waiting.
Our State needs so much help in so many ways. SAD.

Can never get through to a human being. Recorded message takes you through various choices, and then just when you think you might get to talk to someone, you hear the following «due to high call volume we are unable to assist you, please call back later». Ah yes, good to see my taxpayer dollars hard at work. Finally gave up and went here in person and had an equally crappy experience.

Terrible. Even for a tax department. Phones don’t work half the time, wait time is crazy long, and practices are archaic.
Taxes suck, but these guys manage to make it even worse.