Registered under Bill 47? Here is your tax catch-up checklist

By Kawika Lopez · Updated September 22, 2026 · General information, not tax advice

Hawaii County's Bill 47 made short-term rental registration mandatory on the Island of Hawaii, starting September 1, 2026. Registering is the easy part. The part that catches owners off guard is what registration reveals.

Why does registering under Bill 47 expose your taxes?

To register a short-term rental, the county asks for copies of your state GET license and TAT registration, and proof you don't owe the county property tax or county TAT. If you've been renting for years without them, then the moment you apply, the state has a record of a rental with no filing history attached to it.

Two facts make that uncomfortable. If a year's annual return was never filed, that year's tax can be assessed at any time, and the Department recommends non-filers go back at least 10 years. And late returns cost 5% of the tax per month, up to 25%, plus interest. Waiting doesn't make any of this smaller. Getting current on your own schedule, before anyone asks, is the whole game.

The checklist

Confirm you are covered by Bill 47. It applies to short-term rentals on the Island of Hawaii (the Big Island). Rentals of 180 days or more per tenant are a different situation, though they still owe GET.
Pull your rental income records. Airbnb and VRBO both let you download yearly earnings statements. Get every year you operated. Gross rent is what matters, including cleaning fees.
Get your GET license. One-time $20 registration with the Hawaii Department of Taxation. This is the license number the county wants to see.
Register for TAT. State transient accommodations tax, $5 for 1 to 5 units. Your state TAT number registers you with Hawaii County for its 3% too.
Register with the county under Bill 47. $250 for a hosted rental or $500 unhosted, then $100 or $250 a year to renew. Required since September 1, 2026, through the county's registration portal.
File the catch-up returns. Periodic GET and TAT returns for the years you operated, plus annual reconciliations. This is the step where owners stall, and the step where penalties keep growing while they do.
Get on a schedule going forward. Once you're current, filings come around as often as monthly, due by the 20th. Set it up once so you never fall behind again.

Rates, fees and deadlines here were checked on September 22, 2026, and they do change. Check against the Hawaii Department of Taxation and Hawaii County, or ask a licensed professional about your own situation.

What does a Hawaii tax catch-up actually cost?

The tax itself is what it always was: roughly 4.5% GET on all rent and 11% state TAT plus 3% county TAT on short-term rent for recent periods, at the rates in effect for each year you file. What you control is how much penalty and interest stack on top, and that is purely a function of time. Owners who come forward on their own are in much better shape than owners the state finds first.

Not sure which of these steps you still need?

The free checker asks six questions, including what you've already set up, and lists only the steps left, with the date each return is due.

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