Hawaii Short-Term Rental Laws (2026): State Rules, City Limits and Taxes

Short-term rentals are legal in Hawaii only where a county says they are, and since Act 17 of 2024 a county may also say they are not, even for units that were legal yesterday: the law authorizes each county to regulate the time, place, manner and duration of transient accommodations and to amortize and phase out existing rentals in residential and agricultural zones. Maui has used it. Oahu has spent four years enforcing a 30-day minimum outside its resort districts. Hawaii Island is registering everyone, and Kauai's rentals outside visitor areas survive only on certificates that expire if a renewal is one day late.

This guide is for owners on all four islands who need the state law, the four county regimes and the tax stack explained in one pass, as part of our state roundup. Reviewed October 13, 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with the Department of Taxation and your county planning department before acting.

Key facts

• Act 17 (SB 2919), signed May 3, 2024, lets counties regulate the "time, place, manner, and duration" of short-term rentals and phase out existing, legal rentals in residential and agricultural zones.
• Maui County's Bill 9, passed in December 2025, ends transient vacation rentals in apartment-zoned areas: West Maui units must stop by January 1, 2029 and the rest of the county by January 1, 2031, affecting roughly 6,200 units.
• The state transient accommodations tax rose from 10.25 to 11 percent on January 1, 2026 under Act 96 (2025), the "Green Fee"; each county adds a county TAT of up to 3 percent, and the general excise tax of 4 percent plus a 0.5 percent county surcharge in most counties applies on top.
• Honolulu's Ordinance 22-7 (Bill 41), signed April 26, 2022, bars rentals under 30 days outside resort zones; its 90-day minimum was blocked by a federal court in October 2022, and the Department of Planning and Permitting enforces at 30 days.
• Hawaii County's Ordinance 25-50 (Bill 47) requires every short-term vacation rental, hosted or unhosted, to register with the county, with registration reported to open September 1, 2026 at $250 for hosted and $500 for unhosted units.

Statewide rules

Hawaii's Legislature regulates rentals through two instruments: county authority and tax. Act 17 is the authority. Before it, a county that wanted to shrink its rental stock could stop issuing new permits but faced arguments that existing lawful uses were protected; the 2024 law answers those arguments by expressly permitting amortization, the planning term for a phase-out with a deadline. The statute is permissive, not mandatory: each county decides whether and how to use it, which is why Maui's answer looks nothing like Honolulu's.

There is no state rental license. There is a state tax registration: a transient accommodations operator registers with the Department of Taxation for the general excise tax and the transient accommodations tax, files periodic returns and shows the registration in advertising, which Honolulu reinforces by requiring the registration or nonconforming use certificate number and the tax map key on any ad for a stay under 30 days. Confirm the current advertising rule with the Department.

A platform collection law has not passed. HB 1590 (2025–2026) would have required hosting platforms to register as tax collection agents and remit GET and TAT from January 1, 2027; it passed second reading as amended on March 30, 2026 and failed. Platform remittance in Hawaii is therefore a matter of each company's own arrangement, and a host should assume responsibility for GET and TAT filings unless the platform's tax statement for the property shows otherwise.

Condominium and association rules are a separate constraint on every island, and the amortization fights on Maui are landing in zoning rather than in covenants. The appellate record on covenants is surveyed in what courts have actually held about short-term rentals.

Major cities and counties

Four counties, four theories. Maui is removing rentals by date. Honolulu removed them by minimum stay. Hawaii Island is counting them. Kauai froze them in 2008 and lets attrition do the rest.

Taxes

Hawaii taxes a stay of fewer than 180 consecutive days three ways. The state transient accommodations tax is 11 percent as of January 1, 2026, up from 10.25 percent, with the increase earmarked for climate and hazard mitigation. Each county levies its own transient accommodations tax of up to 3 percent, and all four have adopted one. The general excise tax, which Hawaii applies to gross income rather than as a sales tax on the guest, is 4 percent at the state level plus a county surcharge of 0.5 percent in Honolulu, Kauai and Hawaii counties; operators commonly pass it through at a slightly higher rate because the pass-through is itself taxable. Stacked, the visible rate on an Oahu rental runs around 18 to 19 percent.

Who files is the Hawaii question. Because HB 1590 failed, there is no statute making platforms the collection agent, and the operator remains the registered taxpayer. Some platforms collect some Hawaii taxes for some listings; check the tax breakdown on your payout statement rather than the platform's general help page, and file GET and TAT returns on your own schedule regardless. A direct booking is entirely yours: GET, state TAT and county TAT, each on its own return. Managing state, county and surcharge rates per property, and showing guests a correct pass-through, is the work Haven's tax and accounting tooling handles with per-property rates and cited AI rate suggestions.

Kauai adds a practical reminder: the county's certificate renewal requires proof that last year's GET and TAT reconciliations were filed, so tax compliance and the right to operate are the same file.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• May 2025: Governor Green signed Act 96, raising the state TAT to 11 percent from January 1, 2026.
• Late 2025: Hawaii County enacted Ordinance 25-50 (Bill 47), the islandwide registration law.
• December 2025: The Maui County Council passed Bill 9, the apartment-district phase-out with 2029 and 2031 deadlines.
• January 1, 2026: The 11 percent state TAT took effect.
• March 30, 2026: HB 1590, the platform tax-collection bill, passed second reading as amended and then failed for the session.
• September 1, 2026: Hawaii County registration opened, after earlier target dates of December 2025 and July 1, 2026 slipped.
• September 29, 2026: Maui's council referred the hotel-zoning resolution for 32 condominium complexes to the Planning Commission, 5-4; the commission's first-batch review recommended 5 of 48 properties, covering 397 of 3,402 units.

How to stay compliant

1. Confirm your zoning district and permit status with the county: hotel or resort district, apartment district under a Maui deadline, NUC holder, or nothing at all.
2. Register with the Department of Taxation for GET and TAT and file every period, even when a platform shows a collected amount.
3. Register with the county where required (Hawaii County from September 1, 2026) and renew Kauai certificates before the deadline, never on it.
4. Put the registration or certificate number, and on Oahu the TMK, on every listing, including your direct booking site.
5. Keep county TAT separate from state TAT in your books; they are different returns.
6. If you hold a Maui apartment-district unit, plan the exit or the conversion to long-term rental around January 1, 2029 or 2031, and follow the rezoning votes.
7. Honor the 30-day floor on Oahu outside resort zones; a 29-night booking is the violation inspectors look for.
8. Read the condominium documents; many Hawaii associations restrict rentals more tightly than the county does.

FAQ

Is Airbnb legal in Hawaii?

Only where the county allows it. Stays under 30 days are legal on Oahu only in resort zones or under a nonconforming use certificate; Maui is phasing out apartment-zoned rentals by 2029 and 2031; Hawaii Island allows them with registration; Kauai allows them in Visitor Destination Areas and under existing certificates elsewhere.

Do I need a state license to host in Hawaii?

There is no state rental license, but you must register with the Department of Taxation for the general excise tax and the transient accommodations tax and show the registration in advertising. County registration or permits are separate.

What taxes do I pay on a Hawaii short-term rental?

The 11 percent state TAT, a county TAT of up to 3 percent and the 4 percent general excise tax plus a 0.5 percent county surcharge in most counties, on stays under 180 days. No law makes platforms the collector, so assume you file all three unless your payout statements prove otherwise.

Can my county ban short-term rentals in Hawaii?

Yes. Act 17 (2024) authorizes counties to phase out existing rentals in residential and agricultural zones, and Maui's Bill 9 does so with 2029 and 2031 deadlines. Honolulu reached a similar result through a 30-day minimum stay.

What changed in 2025 and 2026?

The state TAT rose to 11 percent on January 1, 2026; Maui passed its phase-out in December 2025 and moved toward hotel rezoning in September 2026; Hawaii County's registration opened September 1, 2026; and the platform tax-collection bill failed.

Sources

• Hawaii State Legislature via Civil Beat Digital Democracy — HB 1590 (2025–2026) status (accessed October 2026)
• County of Kauai Planning Department — 2026 TVR renewal application (non-VDA) (accessed October 2026)
• Hawaii State Judiciary — Intermediate Court of Appeals summary disposition, CAAP-20-0000344 (accessed October 2026)
• Hawaii Public Radio — Rules and fees for Hawaii Island vacation rentals (accessed October 2026)
• Honolulu Civil Beat — Maui mayor takes 'bold step' to eliminate 7,000 short-term rentals (accessed October 2026)
• SFGate — Hawaii island passes law that phases out thousands of short-term rentals (accessed October 2026)
• Hawaii Business — Latest vacation rental battle is over (Bill 41) (accessed October 2026)
• Spectrum News Hawaii — Green fee to take effect on Jan. 1 (accessed October 2026)
• Avalara MyLodgeTax — New Hawaii County ordinance sets new rules for short-term rentals (accessed October 2026)
• Avalara MyLodgeTax — Short-term rentals and cruise ships in Hawaii face new tax to fund environmental projects (accessed October 2026)