Hawaii's TAT is 11% now. Here is what your rental must collect

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

On January 1, 2026, Hawaii's transient accommodations tax rose from 10.25% to 11% under the state's new climate legislation, sometimes called the green fee. If your nightly pricing and guest tax lines still assume the old rate, you're collecting less than you owe.

What taxes does a Hawaii short-term rental pay in 2026?

Short-term rental income in Hawaii gets hit with three taxes at once:

State TAT: 11% of your rental proceeds for stays under 180 days, set by HRS chapter 237D and raised January 1, 2026.
County TAT: 3% on top, charged by each county separately.
GET: 4.5% on gross income, on every island since Maui adopted its county surcharge in January 2024. Cleaning fees guests have to pay count for GET, and for TAT too. If you pass it on to the guest visibly you can charge up to 4.712%, because the pass-on is itself income.

How much tax is on a $3,000 Hawaii booking?

Here is a $3,000 booking on Oʻahu, rounded. The first table is what you owe the state and county on that income. It is the same on all four islands.

Line	Rate	Amount
State TAT	11%	$330
County TAT	3%	$90
GET	4.5%	$135
Total tax owed	18.5%	$555

If you'd rather the guest carried it, you charge a bit more than $555, about $561, because the tax you pass on counts as income and gets taxed in turn. That is the only reason the 4.712% figure exists, and it is a ceiling rather than a rate you owe.

The exact taxable base for each line has edge cases (what counts as gross proceeds, how visibly-passed-on taxes interact, how cleaning fees are treated), which is exactly the kind of detail a filing service exists to get right. The simple version: nearly a fifth of every booking is tax, and nobody collects it for you.

Common mistakes that cost you

Still charging 10.25%. The rate changed January 1, 2026. The difference comes out of your pocket at filing time.
Forgetting county TAT exists. Your state return counts as filed with the county, but the county's 3% is still paid to the county, separately.
Leaving cleaning fees out. Cleaning fees guests have to pay count toward both GET and TAT.
Assuming Airbnb handles any of this. In Hawaii, the platforms don't do any of it for you.

Rates checked against the Department of Taxation on September 22, 2026. County rates and rules vary slightly by island and do change; verify against the Hawaii Department of Taxation and your county, or ask a licensed professional.

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