Hawaii Short-Term Rental Laws by City (2026)
Short-term rental rules in Hawaii are set city by city — a property that is legal to rent nightly in one town can be prohibited a few miles away. The table below covers 3 Hawaii cities (3 human-verified against official sources), with each city's legal status, permit cost, and last-verified date.
Statewide short-term rental rules in Hawaii
Hawaii does not preempt local short-term rental rules — it does the opposite: Act 17 of 2024 (SB 2919) amended HRS § 46-4 to explicitly empower counties to regulate the 'time, place, manner, and duration' of land uses and to amortize or phase out transient vacation rentals in any zoning district, which Maui is now using to eliminate roughly 7,000 units. There is no statewide land-use STR license, but every operator must register with the Department of Taxation before operating — a one-time GET license ($20) plus a Transient Accommodations Tax certificate ($5 for 1-5 units) — and must display the TAT registration number in every listing on pain of $500-$5,000/day fines. Stays under 180 days pay the state TAT of 11% (raised from 10.25% on January 1, 2026 by the 'green fee' law) plus 4% GET (4.5% with county surcharges, max pass-on 4.712%), and each county adds its own 3% county TAT; Airbnb and Vrbo do not collect Hawaii taxes, so hosts must register and remit themselves. City and county rules apply on top of state law — check your local market's page.
Full statewide rules: permits, taxes & enforcement
Hawaii does not preempt local short-term rental rules — it does the opposite: Act 17 of 2024 (SB 2919) amended HRS § 46-4 to explicitly empower counties to regulate the 'time, place, manner, and duration' of land uses and to amortize or phase out transient vacation rentals in any zoning district, which Maui is now using to eliminate roughly 7,000 units. There is no statewide land-use STR license, but every operator must register with the Department of Taxation before operating — a one-time GET license ($20) plus a Transient Accommodations Tax certificate ($5 for 1-5 units) — and must display the TAT registration number in every listing on pain of $500-$5,000/day fines. Stays under 180 days pay the state TAT of 11% (raised from 10.25% on January 1, 2026 by the 'green fee' law) plus 4% GET (4.5% with county surcharges, max pass-on 4.712%), and each county adds its own 3% county TAT; Airbnb and Vrbo do not collect Hawaii taxes, so hosts must register and remit themselves. City and county rules apply on top of state law — check your local market's page.
Reviewed by the STR Rule Watch research team against 10 official sources. How we verify data
Hawaii statewide STR rules at a glance
| Legal status | Allowed with permit |
|---|---|
| Permit required | Yes |
| Permit name | Hawaii Department of Taxation registration: GET license + Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) certificate of registration (Form BB-1) |
| Permit fee | $25 |
| Renewal | No renewal required |
| Total occupancy taxes | ~18% of gross revenue |
| Enforcement | State enforcement runs through the Department of Taxation. |
| Current rules effective | 2026-01-01 |
State law & local authority
Reverse of preemption: Hawaii affirmatively delegates STR land-use control to its four counties. Act 17 of 2024 (SB 2919) amended the county zoning enabling statute, HRS § 46-4, to let counties regulate 'the time, place, manner, and duration in which uses of land and structures may take place' and to provide that transient accommodations are not considered residential or agricultural uses and 'may be phased out or amortized in any zoning district by county zoning regulations' — overriding the prior rule protecting nonconforming residential uses from amortization. The statute also lets county ordinances define transient use as furnishing accommodations for less than 180 consecutive days. Counties may therefore permit, cap, restrict, or fully phase out STRs; Maui's Bill 9 (signed December 15, 2025) is the first large-scale phase-out enacted under this authority and is being challenged in state court.
State-level taxes
| Tax | Rate | Who collects |
|---|---|---|
| State Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT), HRS ch. 237DApplies to gross rental proceeds from stays under 180 consecutive days. Rate was 10.25% through December 31, 2025; Act 96 of 2025 (SB 1396, the climate-impact 'green fee') raised the combined rate to 11% effective January 1, 2026 (10% base + 1% mass-transit increment through 2030). Operators register via Form BB-1 and file periodic Form TA-1 returns. Platforms do not collect: per Avalara, marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo are 'not allowed to' collect Hawaii lodging taxes on behalf of hosts, and DOTAX states use of a third-party rent collector does not relieve the owner of tax obligations. | 11% | host |
| General Excise Tax (GET), HRS ch. 237State GET of 4% applies to all rental gross receipts (short- and long-term). All four counties add a 0.5% county GET surcharge (through 2030), making the effective rate 4.5% with a maximum visible pass-on rate of 4.712%. Host registers for the GET license ($20 one-time) and remits directly. | 4% | host |
| County TAT (state-authorized, HRS § 237D-2.5)State law authorizes each county to levy its own TAT capped at 3% ('No county shall set its transient accommodations tax at a rate greater than three per cent'); all four counties (Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii) levy the full 3%, paid directly to the county. Listed here because the authorization and cap are statewide law; total lodging tax burden is therefore roughly 11% + 3% + 4.5% GET ≈ 18.5%. | 3% | host |
Enforcement & penalties
State enforcement runs through the Department of Taxation. Every advertisement, 'including an online advertisement,' must conspicuously display the TAT registration identification number (or an electronic link to it) and the local contact's name, phone, and email (HRS § 237D-4(c)); the registration certificate and a 'local contact' — an individual residing on the same island as the unit, or an entity with a person on that island — must be conspicuously displayed at the property (§ 237D-4(b)). DOTAX may issue per-unit, per-day citations for violations. Separately, anyone authorized to collect rent for an owner (property managers, agents) must file the rental collection agreement or Form 1099 data with DOTAX (HRS § 237D-8.5, strengthened by Act 76 of 2024 with fines up to $500 per violation). Zoning enforcement (permits, bans, phase-outs) is entirely at the county level.
Failure to display or advertise the TAT registration number/local contact draws mandatory minimum fines per transient accommodation of $500 per day for a first violation, $1,000 per day for a second, and $5,000 per day for a third or subsequent violation (HRS § 237D-4(b),(d)). Third-party rent collectors who fail to file agreements with DOTAX face fines up to $500 per violation (§ 237D-8.5(e)). Unregistered operation also exposes hosts to back taxes, penalties, and interest; county fines (often $1,000-$10,000/day) apply separately.
Statewide sources
- HRS Chapter 237D, Transient Accommodations Tax (unofficial compilation as of 12/31/2025) — Hawaii Department of Taxationretrieved July 10, 2026
- Renting Residential Real Property — Hawaii Department of Taxationretrieved July 10, 2026
- General Excise Tax (GET) Information — Hawaii Department of Taxationretrieved July 10, 2026
- Gov. Green Signs SB 2919 into Law to Empower County Regulation of Short-Term Rentals — Office of the Governorretrieved July 10, 2026
- HRS § 46-4 County zoning (official text; legislature site)retrieved July 10, 2026
- HRS § 46-4 (FindLaw mirror, current as of Jan 1, 2025, incl. Act 17 amendments)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Hawaii Vacation Rental Tax Guide — Avalara MyLodgeTaxretrieved July 10, 2026
- Maui County passes historic law to phase out thousands of vacation rentals — Hawai'i Public Radio (Dec 16, 2025)retrieved July 10, 2026
- Mayor Richard Bissen signs historic Bill 9 into law after Maui County Council vote today — County of Maui (Dec 15, 2025)retrieved July 11, 2026
- As expected, Bill 9 challenged in court; lawsuits seek to block short-term rental phaseout — Maui Now (Jan 2, 2026)retrieved July 11, 2026
| City | Status | Permit fee | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | Restricted | $1,000 | July 10, 2026 |
| Kihei | Restricted | $1,916 | July 21, 2026 |
| Maui County | Restricted | $1,916 | July 12, 2026 |
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This page is informational only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Regulations change frequently — verify current requirements with each jurisdiction before operating. HOA and condo rules may prohibit short-term rentals regardless of city law.