(a) There is levied and shall be assessed and collected each month a rental motor vehicle surcharge tax of $5 a day, or any portion of a day that a rental motor vehicle is rented or leased. Beginning January 1, 2022, and each subsequent year on January 1 until December 31, 2027, the rental motor vehicle surcharge tax shall increase by $0.50. The rental motor vehicle surcharge tax shall be levied upon the lessor; provided that the tax shall not be levied on the lessor if:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-2

  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Department: means the department of taxation. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lessor: means any person in the business of providing rental motor vehicles to the public. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1
  • month: means a calendar month; and the word "year" a calendar year. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-20
  • Surcharge tax: means the rental motor vehicle and tour vehicle surcharge tax established under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1
  • Tour vehicle: means any vehicle, including vans, minibuses, and buses used for the purpose of transporting persons for pleasure or sightseeing trips, or transporting persons to pleasure or sightseeing cruises or destinations. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1
  • Tour vehicle operator: means a person who owns, manages, or dispatches tour vehicles. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1
  • vehicle: means every vehicle which is:

    (1) Self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power but which is not operated upon rails which is rented or leased or offered for rent or lease in this State, whether for personal or commercial use, for a period of six months or less; and

    (2) Designed to carry seventeen passengers or fewer. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 251-1

(1) The lessor is renting the vehicle to replace a vehicle of the lessee that:

(A) Is being repaired; or
(B) Has been stolen and is unrecovered or will not be repaired due to a total loss of the vehicle; and
(2) A record of the repair order, the stolen vehicle record, or total loss vehicle claim for the vehicle is retained either by the lessor for two years for verification purposes or by a motor vehicle repair dealer for two years as provided in section 437B-16.

In addition to the requirements imposed by section 251-4, a lessor shall disclose, to the department, the portion of the remittance attributed to the county in which the motor vehicle was operated under rental or lease. A peer-to-peer car-sharing program, as defined in chapter, shall be subject to the tax imposed by this subsection and be subject to the other requirements of this chapter.

(b) There is levied and shall be assessed and collected each month a tour vehicle surcharge tax of:

(1) $66 for each tour vehicle used or partially used during the month that falls into the over twenty-five passenger seat category; and
(2) $16 for each tour vehicle used or partially used during the month that falls into the eight to twenty-five passenger seat category.

The tour vehicle surcharge tax shall be levied upon the tour vehicle operator.

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