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State turning down "free" money - kalakoa - 04-17-2017
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/state/hawaii-legislative-tourism-leaders-discuss-vacation-rentals
Airbnb says there's $100M in taxes going uncollected.
State doesn't want to "legitimize" existing violations of the law.
The stupid part is: the "illegal" vacation rentals will be rented whether or not the owners "pay their fair share" ... meanwhile, it's the Counties who have made the permitting process so difficult/expensive that nobody bothers to comply.
This is particularly prevalent on Oahu, where the county has not authorized any new short-term rentals since the late 1980s.
Then again, State would just keep "their share" of this new TAT revenue, so it wouldn't really help us "neighbor Counties" anyway...
RE: State turning down "free" money - HereOnThePrimalEdge - 04-17-2017
"pay their fair share"
As long as the state can tax the rest of us at a high enough rate without complaint, no need for an additional source of tax income.
For instance, I still haven't received my Excise Tax booklet and the first quarter payment is due in three days. How many people will forget it's due without the booklet to remind them? Then, when the booklet does show up and they send in their check, they'll be asked to pay (in addition to their regular taxes) late penalties and interest.
So why tax vacation rentals when you can collect from regular businesses twice? They're already in the system, the computer can calculate the fines and print out the payment due notice with no one breaking a sweat.
“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe… What we believe determines what we take to be true.” -David Bohm
RE: State turning down "free" money - kalakoa - 04-17-2017
tax the rest of us at a high enough rate without complaint
Meaningful complaint, anyway. State probably listens to Walmart or Hilton.
What makes this issue "more" interesting (at least to me) is that it's a confluence: there's taxes to be had, but they're derived from "illegal" activities. I actually hope State takes the money and creates a precedent, just think of all the things we could be taxing (cockfights, weed, etc).
RE: State turning down "free" money - Eric1600 - 04-17-2017
I'm confused by this article. People using airbnb should be paying GET and TAT anyway. The background behind the bills just allow airbnb to break this out of the invoice and send it directly, which is easier. Act 204 that went into effect Jan. 1, 2016 requires everyone to have a TAT and GET for short term rentals. The other "two bills" in the article took me a long time to find.
House Bill 1471 and Senate Bill 1087 propose to enable a transient accommodations broker to register as a tax collection agent for vacation rental operators. 1471 instructs Airbnb to collect taxes from its users, directing the collected revenue toward various state funds before divvying it up among the state’s counties.
http://capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1471
1087
http://capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=1087
At the county level, however things are not too clear. As the City and County of Honolulu Planning Department website succinctly puts it: "No new certificates are being issued for transient vacation units."
The state provides authorization whenever they issue a GET and TAT number for your rental property and I know people in Oahu who have recently received new registration numbers for their short term rental properties. Apparently the county is going to just be ignored by most people on this one.
There's a more dubious bill, HB1470, would enable hosting platforms to collect taxes on behalf of hosts but would impose a 4 percent TAT surcharge on short-term rental lodging in the state, would require the hosting platform to pay an annual fee of $10,000, and would limit the registration of properties to one short-term rental lodging unit per operator. That bill passed second reading and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 10, but no hearing has been scheduled. The extra 4% is earmarked for homeless services.
Airbnb Public Policy Manager Matt Middlebrook said in written testimony that Airbnb opposed the bill, and claimed "was crafted by Hilton Hotels" to “kill what it sees as competition.
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1470&year=2017
RE: State turning down "free" money - kalakoa - 04-17-2017
People using airbnb should be paying GET and TAT anyway.
In order to pay GET+TAT, the owner must be operating a legitimate vacation rental, which requires permits from County... somewhere between "cost-prohibitive" and "impossible".
"was crafted by Hilton Hotels" to "kill what it sees as competition"
This where I say "put up or shut up". Does Hilton have any properties outside of Hilo or Kona? How is a Red Road vacation rental creating any "competition"?
RE: State turning down "free" money - kalakoa - 04-17-2017
The state provides authorization whenever they issue a GET and TAT number
State authorizes you to collect and pay taxes on the rental.
State does not authorize you to violate County land-use regulations.
As the City and County of Honolulu Planning Department website succinctly puts it: "No new certificates are being issued for transient vacation units."
That's pretty clear. I wonder what the posture is for Hawaii County?
RE: State turning down "free" money - randomq - 04-17-2017
Ignore it and it will go away.
RE: State turning down "free" money - HereOnThePrimalEdge - 04-17-2017
State does not authorize you to violate County land-use regulations.
I wonder what the posture is for Hawaii County?
This sounds like a process "The Protectors" should get involved with. They could start by determining which hotels and vacation rentals are built on sacred land. After they've removed the current occupants and moved themselves into facilities built on sacred land, they would have a base from which they could resolve other land-use issues.
“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe… What we believe determines what we take to be true.” -David Bohm
RE: State turning down "free" money - Bullwinkle - 04-17-2017
No such thing as free money
It needs to come from somewhere....
like physics, every action having a reaction is the concept
RE: State turning down "free" money - kalakoa - 04-19-2017
No such thing as free money ...
Yes there is: dispensary licenses are "free money" because State has no intention of allowing them to open...