Who pays taxes at check-in?

jayjay wrote:

After having owned 9 timeshare weeks and performed 25+ exchanges throughout the last several years, I have never heard of anyone paying any sort of taxes at check-in.

Well, welcome to the world of exchanges - try Hawaii - the legislature passed many years ago a transient occupancy tax that whoever stays in the unit pays, even if it's the owner who is also paying the property taxes on the unit! This item shows up on your check-out bill (not check-in) because it is calculated on a daily basis and at check-in there is no way of knowing for sure how long the unit will be occupied.

hankj3 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

After having owned 9 timeshare weeks and performed 25+ exchanges throughout the last several years, I have never heard of anyone paying any sort of taxes at check-in.

Well, welcome to the world of exchanges - try Hawaii - the legislature passed many years ago a transient occupancy tax that whoever stays in the unit pays, even if it's the owner who is also paying the property taxes on the unit! This item shows up on your check-out bill (not check-in) because it is calculated on a daily basis and at check-in there is no way of knowing for sure how long the unit will be occupied.

Could you give us a clue to how much this charge is? I suppose it's a %--but of what? Wisconsin considered something like that recently, but I think we have turned it back. MD

adahiscout wrote:

hankj3 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

After having owned 9 timeshare weeks and performed 25+ exchanges throughout the last several years, I have never heard of anyone paying any sort of taxes at check-in.

Well, welcome to the world of exchanges - try Hawaii - the legislature passed many years ago a transient occupancy tax that whoever stays in the unit pays, even if it's the owner who is also paying the property taxes on the unit! This item shows up on your check-out bill (not check-in) because it is calculated on a daily basis and at check-in there is no way of knowing for sure how long the unit will be occupied.

=======

Could you give us a clue to how much this charge is? I suppose it's a %--but of what? Wisconsin considered something like that recently, but I think we have turned it back. MD

Take a look at the "official" State of Hawaii Web page describing this tax at http://www.hawaii.gov/tax/taxfacts/tf98-04.pdf

You pay this tax everytime you check in to a hotel. The local government just caught up with a good stream of income.

We are owners at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. The State of Hawaii daily occupancy tax for that resort is about $4.19/day. Poster MD above has been very helpful to us as we were putting together a posting/rental agreement to rent out our week next Aug. The posting is now up on Redweek.com. I put in the agreement that the renter pays this daily tax as it will be put on their credit card they use at check in. THANKS MD for all your helpful advise ~ I see you mention above "Wisconsin"...we live in WI too! Warmest Aloha's..... mccabin

mccabin wrote:

We are owners at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. The State of Hawaii daily occupancy tax for that resort is about $4.19/day. Poster MD above has been very helpful to us as we were putting together a posting/rental agreement to rent out our week next Aug. The posting is now up on Redweek.com. I put in the agreement that the renter pays this daily tax as it will be put on their credit card they use at check in. THANKS MD for all your helpful advise ~ I see you mention above "Wisconsin"...we live in WI too! Warmest Aloha's..... mccabin

== Well, I guess $4.19 a day is an annoyance but not a deal breaker. Good luck renting. MD in EC

adahiscout wrote:

mccabin wrote:

We are owners at Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. The State of Hawaii daily occupancy tax for that resort is about $4.19/day. Poster MD above has been very helpful to us as we were putting together a posting/rental agreement to rent out our week next Aug. The posting is now up on Redweek.com. I put in the agreement that the renter pays this daily tax as it will be put on their credit card they use at check in. THANKS MD for all your helpful advise ~ I see you mention above "Wisconsin"...we live in WI too! Warmest Aloha's..... mccabin

== Well, I guess $4.19 a day is an annoyance but not a deal breaker. Good luck renting. MD in EC

Yes...not to bad for going to Maui! mccabin near Spooner!

annec15 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

After having owned 9 timeshare weeks and performed 25+ exchanges throughout the last several years, I have never heard of anyone paying any sort of taxes at check-in.

Apparantly in Hawaii, they charge a room tax. I am sending someone there next month and I was informed that there will be a tax charged to them.

Absolutely there is a tax in Hawaii. Similar to a Transient Occupancy Tax in other states, it is imposed on the actual tenant and is collected by the resort management. The amount is based on the value of the week and is calculated on the number of days one uses the unit. This tax was imposed by the State Legislature approximately 10 years ago on the justification that the timeshare tenant is using the state's infrastructure - highways, sewers, etc., so he/she should pay for that use. Never mind that the interval owner already is paying property tax just like every other property owner, and the tenant then is already paying a special tax on the rental car which uses the highways. It's basically a gotcha by the greedy politicians - the timeshare owner is usually not a registered voter in the state, so there's no one to complain when such a tax is imposed. It is specifically imposed on all short-term usages of hotels and timeshare facilities. I just stayed on the Big Island (in an exchange unit) and the tax on a 1BR unit was $3.89 per day. That is approximately the same amount I pay for the 1BR unit I own on Kauai.

hankj3 wrote:

Absolutely there is a tax in Hawaii. Similar to a Transient Occupancy Tax in other states, it is imposed on the actual tenant and is collected by the resort management. The amount is based on the value of the week and is calculated on the number of days one uses the unit. This tax was imposed by the State Legislature approximately 10 years ago on the justification that the timeshare tenant is using the state's infrastructure - highways, sewers, etc., so he/she should pay for that use. Never mind that the interval owner already is paying property tax just like every other property owner, and the tenant then is already paying a special tax on the rental car which uses the highways. It's basically a gotcha by the greedy politicians - the timeshare owner is usually not a registered voter in the state, so there's no one to complain when such a tax is imposed. It is specifically imposed on all short-term usages of hotels and timeshare facilities. I just stayed on the Big Island (in an exchange unit) and the tax on a 1BR unit was $3.89 per day. That is approximately the same amount I pay for the 1BR unit I own on Kauai.

Well, evidently the dollar, nickle and diming (extra taxes, charges, fees and surcharges) have become rampant in the timeshare industry these days. I've been reading more and more reports of such lately.

So, the bottom line seems to be that the person actually staying in the timeshare unit pays any special taxes. Since these are subject to change, the owner may not even know what they currently are and there is no way that said owner can pre-pay them for the renter. One often has the same extra costs in hotels these days--for electricity even! Blows my mind. MD

adahiscout wrote:

So, the bottom line seems to be that the person actually staying in the timeshare unit pays any special taxes. Since these are subject to change, the owner may not even know what they currently are and there is no way that said owner can pre-pay them for the renter. One often has the same extra costs in hotels these days--for electricity even! Blows my mind. MD

hankj3 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

So, the bottom line seems to be that the person actually staying in the timeshare unit pays any special taxes. Since these are subject to change, the owner may not even know what they currently are and there is no way that said owner can pre-pay them for the renter. One often has the same extra costs in hotels these days--for electricity even! Blows my mind. MD

If the current owner doesn't know, then let me suggest an easy solution: simply call the resort and ask the reservations clerk for the amount - they will know! Then inform the guest that they will be required to pay the tax by the resort upon check-out and (1) reduce your rental rate accordingly, or (2) have them bring back the receipt to you and you re-imburse them for the tax they paid.

In St Maarten NA there is a $50 occupancy tax at check-in for all resorts and a $20 or $30 fee to leave the island that maybe included in your airlines ticket cost. At Oyster Bay Beach Resort and most other island resorts there is an electricity tax per day based on unit size if you want air conditioning, renters choice. I inform any potential renter of these additional fees up front but I also set my rental price accordingly.

georget wrote:

In St Maarten NA there is a $50 occupancy tax at check-in for all resorts and a $20 or $30 fee to leave the island that maybe included in your airlines ticket cost. At Oyster Bay Beach Resort and most other island resorts there is an electricity tax per day based on unit size if you want air conditioning, renters choice. I inform any potential renter of these additional fees up front but I also set my rental price accordingly.

adahiscout wrote:

georget wrote:

In St Maarten NA there is a $50 occupancy tax at check-in for all resorts and a $20 or $30 fee to leave the island that maybe included in your airlines ticket cost. At Oyster Bay Beach Resort and most other island resorts there is an electricity tax per day based on unit size if you want air conditioning, renters choice. I inform any potential renter of these additional fees up front but I also set my rental price accordingly.

=== Do hotels lower their prices when the city adds a tax? MD

hankj3 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

georget wrote:

In St Maarten NA there is a $50 occupancy tax at check-in for all resorts and a $20 or $30 fee to leave the island that maybe included in your airlines ticket cost. At Oyster Bay Beach Resort and most other island resorts there is an electricity tax per day based on unit size if you want air conditioning, renters choice. I inform any potential renter of these additional fees up front but I also set my rental price accordingly.

=== Do hotels lower their prices when the city adds a tax? MD

What would be their incentive to do so? The tax hits the competition (all the other hotels in the city) as well and the presence or absence of a tax doesn't add or subtract anything to the hotel's bottom line (it only impacts the accounting department who has to track and pay the taxes). Think about it, when a hotel quotes you a room rate do they ever include all of the taxes in the number they give? - does an airline ad ever include all of the taxes and fees (and fuel surcharges and extra baggage fees)?