Hawaii Transient Tax?

[Presley]

I just read about this on another thread. Since my questions are OT from the OP, I decided to start a new thread.

How does it work?

I have been to Hawaii several times and will likely go there again several more times in the future. I have even thought of purchasing Aulani on the resale market when the right contract comes up.

Is the tax billed to the person when staying there? Or, is the contract owner going to pay it with regular annual dues?

It this tax only on villas/timeshares or will it be on hotel stays as well?

I am not sure if it would be worth it to buy Aulani if I have to pay that tax every year. If it is per stay, I suppose that won't be any different than anywhere I stay in Hawaii.

Also, maybe nobody will know this, but my favorite place to stay is at Hilton on the Big Island. It is an RCI exchange for DVC. If I exchange my DVC points for RCI, do I pay the transient tax twice?

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

It is paid when you stay at the time of checkout for people staying in the villas. I'm sure Hawaii has it's own hotel taxes if you were staying in a hotel room.

From the dvcnews.com story (as updated by wdrl)

Hawai'i timeshare stays are subject to a Transient Accommodations Tax which will be collected at the time of the stay. The tax rate is currently one half of the annual dues rate times 9.25%. Based upon the stated dues rate for 2011, the tax rate for that year will be $.1993 per point. The TAT is payable by the individual occupying the room (member, guest, renter, etc.) and therefore will not be included in DVC member dues collections.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

It's whether you are staying in a hotel or timeshare. I don't know what happens with owners.

 

[JimMIA]

Based upon the stated dues rate for 2011, the tax rate for that year will be $.1993 per point.

So, at the highest point rate for a 2 bedroom villa, that would be $16.94 per night.

Not fun, but not awful either as long as you know about it. I was expecting it to be much higher from other posts.

 

[Presley]

That isn't bad at all. I wouldn't think twice about a charge like that.

 

[jmatias]

Whoever actually stays in the room pays the tax.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

So, at the highest point rate for a 2 bedroom villa, that would be $16.94 per night.

Not fun, but not awful either as long as you know about it. I was expecting it to be much higher from other posts.

There has been talk of Hawaii adjusting the tax rate and it going up. I don't know the current status of that legislation, last I heard it was tabled for the time being.

It's not too terrible, and my DVC guide was CRYSTAL CLEAR that this Transient Tax was in place before we bought, so we were aware of it going in.

 

[wdrl]

There has been talk of Hawaii adjusting the tax rate and it going up. I don't know the current status of that legislation, last I heard it was tabled for the time being.

On March 8, 2011, the Hawaii State House of Representatives passed HB809, which would raise the Transient Accommodations Tax on Timeshare Units from 7.25% to 9.25%. It was transmitted to the Hawaii State Senate for consideration. HB809 is currently pending with the Senate's Tourism and Ways and Means Committees.

The tax rate of $0.1993 mentioned in the earlier posts assumes that the tax rate will increase from 7.25% to 9.25%. If HB809 does not become law, then the tax rate will remain at the current rate of $0.1562 per point for length of stay.

There was another piece of proposed legislation -- HB1163 -- that would have essentially tripled the amount of the TAT to about $0.5980 per point. However, on January 31, 2011, HB1163 was deferred by the House Tourism Committee. There has been no movement on HB1163 since that date.

 

[tjkraz]

BTW, California also has a Transient Accommodation Tax. Difference is that the CA guidelines allow for it to be bundled with annual dues (meaning that VGC owners pay) while HI stipulates that the TAT must be paid by the room occupant.

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you stay in other types of accommodations in Hawaii, the tax can be as much as 14.2%. I'm not sure why it varies, but I was looking on VRBO last week, and there were some places with the tax listed as low as 12% and others over 14%.

 

[MD_Guy]

The Hawaiian transient tax is very unfair. There was a lot of people not happy with DVC's involvement with ARDA and asking for donations.

These types of predatory laws/taxes on timeshares is why DVC has gotten involved with the ARDA.

These types of taxes are easy to pass, cause in most cases the owners are not state residents. There is very little blow back on the legislatures. The timeshare taxes and assessments are extremely high vs regular condo ownership.

Here is the link to the old thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2267156&highlight=arda

 

[TagsMissy]

The Hawaiian transient tax is very unfair. There was a lot of people not happy with DVC's involvement with ARDA and asking for donations.

These types of predatory laws/taxes on timeshares is why DVC has gotten involved with the ARDA.

These types of taxes are easy to pass, cause in most cases the owners are not state residents. There is very little blow back on the legislatures. The timeshare taxes and assessments are extremely high vs regular condo ownership.

Here is the link to the old thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2267156&highlight=arda

Life isn't always fair now is it... there's nothing to do with fairness. It is what it is; nobody is forcing anybody to go to Hawaii and pay the tax.