Hawaii Airbnb & short-term-rental permit leads

Where the Hawaii records come from

Every Hawaii record in the file today, all 1,490 of them, comes from one register: Honolulu STR registrations. That makes the Hawaii file and the Honolulu file the same records, so the month-by-month, status and column breakdowns are on the Honolulu page. This page covers what is statewide: the tax rules every Hawaii host works under and the local programs elsewhere in the state that are not in the file yet.

Short-term rental rules across Hawaii

Outside the Visitor Destination Area, Kauai County does not allow new short-term rentals of a home or room for under 180 days. [1] The 180-day limit does not apply to properties inside the Visitor Destination Area (VDA). [1] The 2026 renewal application for TVRs outside the VDA carries a $750 non-refundable fee and asks for the owner's prior-year state GET and TAT annual returns. [2] Nonconforming TVR certificates must be renewed on time; there is no grace period and a missed renewal leads to a cease-and-desist and forfeiture notice. [1] The Planning Department publishes a spreadsheet of approved homestays and nonconforming TVRs by tax map key, with permit number, facility name and whether each is current. [1]

For state TAT, a transient accommodation is one rented to a transient for less than 180 consecutive days. [3] Act 96 (2025) raised Hawaii's transient accommodations tax from 10.25% to 11%, effective January 1, 2026. [4] Operators of transient accommodations also owe general excise tax at 4% plus a 0.5% county surcharge. [3]

Maui County Council Bill 9 (2025) was written to end transient vacation rental use in apartment-zoned districts over a phase-out period; the Council's overview page still describes it as under consideration. [5]