Hawaiʻi lawmakers are looking for ways to fund their $1.4 billion climate resilience program, with a proposal to raise the state’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) by 1.75 percent.
This would bring the total tax on visitor lodgings to 19.712%, the proposed TAT rate of 12%, the county surcharge of 3%, and the Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET) of 4.712%. As we noted last month, Hawaiʻi already has one of the highest tourist taxes in the world.
I often hear people say, ‘It’s only 1.75%.’ But that’s misleading. Since the TAT is rising from 10.25% to 12%, that’s a 1.75 percentage point jump—which actually means the tax is increasing by 17.1% relative to the current rate. That’s a big difference.
Another bill floating around proposes to collect $20 a night on bookings made using loyalty points or membership reward points.
As of this writing, both Senate Bill 1396, which proposes an increase in the room tax, and House Bill 504, which introduces a $20 per night surcharge on ‘free’ room nights, are still active.
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📎 Lawmakers eye tourism industry to help fund $1.4B reportedly needed for climate resiliency
