In the case of a real property tax appeal, no taxpayer or county shall be deemed aggrieved by an assessment, nor shall an assessment be lowered or an exemption allowed, unless there is shown:

1. (1) Assessment of the property exceeds by more than twenty per cent the ratio of assessment to market value used by the director of taxation as the real property tax base;
2. (2) Lack of uniformity or inequality, brought about by illegality of the methods used or error in the application of the methods to the property involved;
3. (3) Denial of an exemption to which the taxpayer is entitled and for which the taxpayer has qualified; or
4. (4) Illegality, on any ground arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States or the laws of the State (in addition to the ground of illegality of the methods used, mentioned in paragraph (2)).

[L Sp 1957, c 1, §13(a); am L 1963, c 92, §2; Supp, §116-2.1; HRS §232-3; am L 1973, c 115, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 2017, c 12, §37]

Law Journals and Reviews

Real Property Tax Litigation in Hawaii. III HBJ, no. 13, at 57 (1999).

Case Notes

Method of valuation of cane lands inappropriate and illegal. 47 H. 41, 384 P.2d 287 (1963).

"Assessment" means the percentage of fair market value, and unless this valuation exceeds the full market value there can be no reduction. 53 H. 45, 487 P.2d 1070 (1971).

Merely showing discrepancies in assessment of different parcels of land is not sufficient to prove denial of equal protection. 53 H. 45, 487 P.2d 1070 (1971).

Without appellant providing evidence of fair market value of the fee simple interest in the land, an appeal showing method used in determining assessment was wrong cannot be sustained. 60 H. 487, 591 P.2d 607 (1979).