2023 Hawaii Revised Statutes › Title 24. Insurance › 431. Insurance Code › 431:7-203 Administrative refunds.

§431:7-203 Administrative refunds.
(a) If any person has paid to the commissioner any tax, fee, or other charge in error or in excess of that which the person is lawfully obligated to pay under this code, the commissioner, upon written request made by the person to the commissioner within the time set forth in section 431:7-204.6, shall authorize a refund thereof out of the compliance resolution fund, except that a tax refund shall be payable out of the general fund, by submitting a voucher therefor to the comptroller subject to the following limitations:
(1) No recourse may be had except under section 40-35 or by appeal for refunds of taxes paid pursuant to an assessment by the commissioner; provided that if the assessment by the commissioner contains clerical errors, transposition of figures, typographical errors, and errors in calculation or if there is an illegal or erroneous assessment because the assessment is not in accordance with this code, the refund procedures in subsection (a) shall apply; and
(2) No refund or overpayment credit shall be made unless the original payment of the tax was due to the law having been interpreted or applied with respect to the taxpayer concerned differently than with respect to taxpayers generally.
As to all tax payments for which a refund or credit is not authorized by this subsection (including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, cases of unconstitutionality), the remedies provided by appeal or under section 40-35 are exclusive.
(b) Where a taxpayer is entitled to a refund, the taxpayer, at the taxpayer's election, may apply the amount of the refund as an overpayment credit to taxes subsequently accruing under this code.
(c) This subsection shall apply to a refund for an overpayment of tax.
(1) If the tax return as filed by a taxpayer shows the amount already paid, whether or not on the basis of installments, exceeds the amount determined to be the correct amount of the tax due, and the taxpayer requests a refund of the overpayment, the amount of overpayment together with interest, if any, shall be refunded in the manner provided in subsection (a). The interest shall be allowed and paid at the rate of two-thirds of one per cent for each calendar month or fraction thereof, beginning with the first calendar day after the due date of the return or, if the return is filed after the prescribed due date, the first month following the month the return is received, and continuing until the date that the commissioner approves the refund voucher. If the commissioner approves the refund voucher within ninety days from the due date or the date the return is received, whichever is later, and the comptroller of the State sends the taxpayer a refund warrant within forty-five days from the date of the commissioner's approval, no interest on the overpayment will be allowed or paid. However, if either the commissioner or the comptroller exceeds the time allowed herein, interest will be computed from the first calendar day after the due date of the return or from the first month following the month the return is received by the commissioner if the return is filed after the prescribed due date, until the date that the comptroller sends the refund warrant to the taxpayer.
(2) If any overpayment of taxes results or arises from:
(A) The taxpayer filing an amended return; or
(B) A determination made by the commissioner,
and the overpayment is not shown on the original return as filed by the taxpayer, interest on the overpayment shall be allowed and paid from the first calendar day after the due date of the original return or, if the original return is filed after the prescribed due date, the first month following the month the return is received, to the date that the commissioner signs the refund voucher. If the comptroller does not send the refund warrant to the taxpayer within forty-five days after the commissioner's approval, interest will continue until the date that the comptroller sends the refund warrant to the taxpayer.
(3) In the case of credit, interest shall be allowed and paid from the first calendar day after the due date of the return, the first month following the month the return is received by the commissioner, or the date of payment, whichever is later, to the date the credit is taken; provided that the commissioner may make a refund of any credit to a taxpayer where the taxpayer has no underpayment against which to apply the credit. [L 1987, c 347, pt of §2; am L 1992, c 236, §7; am L 1999, c 163, §15; am L 2000, c 162, §1 and c 182, §6; am L 2002, c 39, §12; am L 2019, c 111, §19]
Case Notes
As agencies may not pass upon the constitutionality of statutes, had insurers initially brought a claim under this section, insurance commissioner, as an administrative officer, would have been powerless to declare fees imposed on insurers pursuant to this section unconstitutional or to provide a refund on that basis; thus, as there were no remedies for insurers' constitutional claims under this section, circuit court did not lack subject matter jurisdiction by virtue of insurers' failure to exhaust their administrative remedies under this section. 120 H. 51, 201 P.3d 564 (2008).
Where subsection (a) did not establish a true available administrative remedy for challenging the constitutionality of the insurance division's assessments against insurers, trial court did not err in rejecting State's failure-to-exhaust defense. 117 H. 454 (App.), 184 P.3d 769 (2008).