Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION › Chapter 237D - TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX › Section 18-237D-4-01 - Certificate of registration

Current through June, 2024
(a) Each operator
			 or plan manager shall indicate, on its application for registration, the type
			 of entity it is If the transient accommodation is operated by a married couple
			 or civil union partners, the married couple or civil union partners, may
			 jointly file one individual registration The registration shall include the
			 name and address of the operator or plan manager and of each place of business
			 subject to this chapter An operator who acquires an additional transient
			 accommodation or sells, transfers, assigns, or gives away a transient
			 accommodation during the taxable year shall file an amended application for
			 registration containing an updated list of each place of business subject to
			 this chapter before the end of the taxable year or within thirty days of the
			 acquisition or giveaway, whichever is later
(b) There shall be no additional registration
			 fees due if the operator or plan manager subsequent to its initial registration
			 adds more units to its registration, nor shall there be a refund if the number
			 of units is reduced Upon receipt of the required payment, the director shall
			 issue a certificate of registration
(c) Any cancellation of a registration shall
			 be without any refund of the registration fee paid
Example 1.
Hotel Corporation, engaged in
				furnishing transient accommodations in Hawaii, owns and operates a hotel. The
				hotel has six rooms that are rented to transients. Hotel Corporation shall
				register its name and address and the business name (if any) and address of the
				hotel with the department and shall pay a one-time fee of $15 for the
				registration.
Example 2.
Mr. Peters owns a single apartment unit
				he furnishes as a transient accommodation. Mr. Peters shall register with the
				department by providing his name and address, and the business name (if any)
				and address of the apartment. Mr. Peters shall pay a one-time fee of $5 for the
				registration.
Example 3.
Property Corporation, a firm engaged in
				the property management business, manages a condominium apartment building
				consisting of fifty apartments. Each of the apartments in the building is owned
				by a different investor who rents the premises on a short-term basis. Although
				some of the apartments are occasionally rented on a long-term basis, Property
				Corporation obtains the consent of all the investors, files, and pays the sum
				of $250 for fifty certificates of registration on behalf of the investors.
				Property Corporation has determined that this procedure greatly facilitates its
				activity. Within two months of operation, the climate of the rental market
				suddenly changes to a point that all of the investors request Property
				Corporation to change die mode of renting the apartments from a short-term
				rental to a long-term lease basis. Property Corporation in turn requests the
				department in writing to cancel all the certificates of registration in force.
				Neither Property Corporation nor any of the investors is entitled to a refund
				of any part of the $250 in registration fees paid. Furthermore, Property
				Corporation shall prepare and submit an annual tax return summarizing the two
				months of transient accommodations activity for each of the fifty condominium
				apartments. Although Property Corporation must file fifty annual tax returns,
				payment of taxes on the fifty units may be made with a single check enclosed in
				the same envelope with the fifty returns.
Example 4.
The individual owners of Tropical
				Condominium Apartments (consisting of one hundred units) and Renter Corporation
				enter into a contract. According to the contract, Renter Corporation leases the
				entire building from the owners of Tropical Condominium Apartments to operate
				the apartments as transient accommodations. In this situation, Renter
				Corporation is deemed the operator. Renter Corporation shall register its name
				and address and its business name (if any) and address of the condominium
				apartments with the department. Renter Corporation shall pay a $15 one-time fee
				for a single registration covering the one hundred-unit apartment.
As operator of the transient accommodations, Renter Corporation
				shall be liable for the tax imposed under this chapter and the general excise
				tax imposed under chapter
				237, HRS, on die gross rental and
				gross income, respectively, derived from the transient accommodations and
				apartment rental activities, respectively.
The owners of the individual units in Tropical Condominium
				Apartments are separately liable for the general excise tax imposed under
				chapter 237, HRS, on the gross income or gross receipts derived from the
				activity of leasing the apartment units to Renter Corporation.
Example 5
. ABC, Inc. operates several facilities.
				On Oahu, ABC operates two hotels in Waikiki; a condominium apartment that is
				operated as a hotel; and a fifty-unit apartment facility in Punaluu, of which
				some of the units are rented for less than one hundred eighty consecutive days
				and other units for periods of over one hundred eighty consecutive days. ABC
				also operates a hotel on the island of Hawaii, a condominium operated as a
				hotel on the island of Maui, and three hotels on the island of Kauai. ABC, Inc.
				shall register with the department and shall list the names and addresses of
				each of the hotels or condominium apartments and identify all of the specific
				rooms or apartments that are transient accommodations. Regarding the fifty-unit
				apartment located in Punaluu, ABC must give the name and address of the
				apartment building and identify the units that are customarily occupied by and
				regularly furnished to transients for consideration. If ABC owns apartment
				numbers 1 to 25 and 35 to 50, ABC will indicate the numbers 1 to 25 and 35 to
				50 on die registration form. ABC does not have to enumerate each apartment
				number such as 1, 2, 3, etc.
Example 6.
Assume the same facts as Example 5,
				except that after complying with all requirements for registration, ABC, Inc.
				begins operating units 30-34 in the Punaluu apartment building as transient
				accommodations. ABC, Inc. also purchases a hotel on Kauai and begins operating
				it as a transient accommodation. ABC, Inc. must update its registration with
				the department to indicate that it is operating apartment numbers 1 to 25 and
				30 to 50 of the Punaluu apartment building and also to indicate that it is
				operating the new hotel on Kauai before the end of the taxable year or within
				thirty days of the acquisition, whichever is later.