Aulani Taxes

Cfabar1

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 19, 2020
Read this sobering article from DVC News today:

https://dvcnews.com/resorts/aulani-villas/news-46018/5501-aulani-nightly-tax-has-doubled-in-7-years

Apparently on top of the annual dues, you have to pay a whopping 13.25% tax when staying… even as DVC….

Do people factor this tax into the dues fees? Also, does anyone know how subsidized vs. unsubsidized factors into the discussion here?

Wow… I assume this would be any DVC member, whether they are Aulani owners or not who have to pay this….
 
The tax is paid at the time of stay and is levied by the state of Hawaii. Contract has no bearing on the tax, which is paid entirely independently of dues.

If you only stay once every three years, you pay the transient tax once. If you stay on Saratoga points, you pay the transient tax.
 
Read this sobering article from DVC News today:

https://dvcnews.com/resorts/aulani-villas/news-46018/5501-aulani-nightly-tax-has-doubled-in-7-years

Apparently on top of the annual dues, you have to pay a whopping 13.25% tax when staying… even as DVC….

Do people factor this tax into the dues fees? Also, does anyone know how subsidized vs. unsubsidized factors into the discussion here?

Wow… I assume this would be any DVC member, whether they are Aulani owners or not who have to pay this….
This is actually more advantageous to DVC owners when they rent out their points. It's essentially passing the additional tax to those that occupy the room, not the owners of the contract. It has no bearing on subsidized or non-subsidized contracts. It's simply an additional tax levied by the state and city to pay for our beleaguered rail system. Every hotel and air bnb in Hawaii charges this additional tax, not just Aulani.
 
As others have said, this is something that applies to every hotel you stay at in Hawaii and it also applies to any DVC owner who decides to stay at Aulani. Most people probably just gloss over it when staying at other hotels but I feel like we as DVC owners notice it more simply because we expect our points to cover all of the fees. Unfortunately Disney is not able to simply increase the number of points needed to book a room and include that in the price.
 


As others have said, this is something that applies to every hotel you stay at in Hawaii and it also applies to any DVC owner who decides to stay at Aulani. Most people probably just gloss over it when staying at other hotels but I feel like we as DVC owners notice it more simply because we expect our points to cover all of the fees. Unfortunately Disney is not able to simply increase the number of points needed to book a room and include that in the price.
Among other issues, it is not a property tax but a use tax. The rate changes regularly and is charged per night. There is no coherent and defensible way to build it to dues.
 
As long as it's not for a sports stadium or conference center it's all good. I hate cities that add on hotel taxes for items that should generate their own revenue.
 
Among other issues, it is not a property tax but a use tax. The rate changes regularly and is charged per night. There is no coherent and defensible way to build it to dues.
Exactly. I'm not saying it should be just that it can't be done.
 


I own at Aulani and the Transient Tax does not matter to me. For my upcoming stay, the tax will be $16.35 a night. Not a big deal to me. I'm staying in a Island View (ocean can be seen) for 4 nights. Total of 108 points. Completely worth it to be there for New Years
What room cost is the tax based on when using points?

ETA - perhaps I should have read the article before asking silly questions - "The tax is calculated by taking one-half of the yearly maintenance fee, multiplied by the number of vacation points for the length of stay, multiplied by the Time Share Occupancy tax rate".
 
The tax is paid at the time of stay and is levied by the state of Hawaii. Contract has no bearing on the tax, which is paid entirely independently of dues.
This particular tax is, in the way it is levied. There are many other taxes that are folded into DVC that we just call dues. They are rolled into dues.

Hawaii has been very clear that they are increasing timeshare tax burden across many categories:
https://www.hawaiitourismauthority....-timeshare-quarterly-report-q3-2022-11-15.pdf
 
What room cost is the tax based on when using points?

ETA - perhaps I should have read the article before asking silly questions - "The tax is calculated by taking one-half of the yearly maintenance fee, multiplied by the number of vacation points for the length of stay, multiplied by the Time Share Occupancy tax rate".
And in a sense this means whoever's staying at Aulani on points isn't actually paying much transient use tax, at least compared to someone paying a cash rate at Aulani or any other Hawai'i hotel.


It adds up if you're doing a Grand Villa at Christmas, but other than that...
https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...-resorts/2022-hi-tat-web-cht-final-121421.pdf
 
It's mostly just a surcharge for staying in Hawaii. So, if you're buying Aulani for Hawaii, it's par for the course. If your buying Aulani for SAPs, it doesn't really change the value there.

Although Hawaii has been more aggressive about taxing hotels, I tend to think the same is coming for Florida. The conservative Florida government will slow it down as much as they can, but eventually the bills are going to come due.
 
If you own a condo in Hawaii , you pay a condo fee and taxes . Isnt a time share just a smaller part of a big condo ? If you own a condo and rent it out weekly does the renter have to pay these taxes too?
 
It's mostly just a surcharge for staying in Hawaii. So, if you're buying Aulani for Hawaii, it's par for the course. If your buying Aulani for SAPs, it doesn't really change the value there.

Although Hawaii has been more aggressive about taxing hotels, I tend to think the same is coming for Florida. The conservative Florida government will slow it down as much as they can, but eventually the bills are going to come due.
This would destroy the timeshare industry in Florida.
 
It's mostly just a surcharge for staying in Hawaii. So, if you're buying Aulani for Hawaii, it's par for the course. If your buying Aulani for SAPs, it doesn't really change the value there.

Although Hawaii has been more aggressive about taxing hotels, I tend to think the same is coming for Florida. The conservative Florida government will slow it down as much as they can, but eventually the bills are going to come due.
I haven't even seen proposals like this on the table in Florida. In this whole Disney taxation district mess, timeshares haven't even been in the discussion. I mean, maybe they should be, but I haven't seen any indication that this is actually happening in Florida.
 
I haven't even seen proposals like this on the table in Florida. In this whole Disney taxation district mess, timeshares haven't even been in the discussion. I mean, maybe they should be, but I haven't seen any indication that this is actually happening in Florida.
I think the key difference with HI vs FL is islands, limited space, and a need to preserve housing availability for locals and not turn everything into tourist accommodations.

FL has its own housing cost increases right now, of course (particularly compared to the lows from 10 years ago), but they do have a bit more growing room still than, say, Oahu.

I will add that I do see some upside risk to WDW DVC ad valorem (property) taxes though, because presumably it's the new CFTOD setting those rates in the future instead of RCID. I think it would be in that avenue though rather than a newfangled accommodation tax applying to timeshares beyond Disney.
 
This would destroy the timeshare industry in Florida.
I haven't even seen proposals like this on the table in Florida. In this whole Disney taxation district mess, timeshares haven't even been in the discussion. I mean, maybe they should be, but I haven't seen any indication that this is actually happening in Florida.
Wyndham lost a lawsuit for what they claimed to be an unfair tax assessment in Florida. The timeshare industry lobbied for a bill to reduce the tax burden, but it failed. So, there are limits to their influence in politics.

My overall feeling on this is that areas more susceptible to climate change are going to face rising costs, and because tourism is also the main economy of these areas, the taxes are going to just get worse one way or another.
 
Wyndham lost a lawsuit for what they claimed to be an unfair tax assessment in Florida. The timeshare industry lobbied for a bill to reduce the tax burden, but it failed. So, there are limits to their influence in politics.

My overall feeling on this is that areas more susceptible to climate change are going to face rising costs, and because tourism is also the main economy of these areas, the taxes are going to just get worse one way or another.
They seem to all squabble about property taxes, Disney did it too.

That's totally different than the potpourri of creative taxation that Hawaii has added over time, and they haven't been subtle about it.

Obviously taxes go up, but that doesn't mean timeshares in Florida are being targeted the way they are in Hawaii.
 
I will add that I do see some upside risk to WDW DVC ad valorem (property) taxes though, because presumably it's the new CFTOD setting those rates in the future instead of RCID.
Actually, it’s the Orange County Tax Assessor that sets the valuations for WDW DVC properties and for Disney Resort hotels in OC. The Osceola County sets those valuations for the WDW hotels there (the All Stars). Then the various taxing authorities in each county - schools, emergency services, etc. - set the tax rates. I believe Reedy Creek set its own tax rates for services provided within RCID such as emergency services, but Disney also paid taxes for services provided outside RCID such as schools.

Edited to add link to article about DVC and ad valorum taxes: https://www.dvcnews.com/other-resou...ent-district-potentially-means-for-dvc-owners
 
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