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HRS §251-2

Rental car and tour vehicle surcharge tax

This law creates two taxes: one on rental cars and one on tour vehicles. Rental car companies pay a daily surcharge, which increases each year through 2027, unless the rental replaces a customer's car that is being repaired, stolen, or totaled. Tour operators pay a monthly surcharge based on the vehicle's seat count.

businesses

The statute, as written — Rental motor vehicle and tour vehicle surcharge tax

(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: (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 279L, 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.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§251-4 When to file and pay the surcharge tax

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.