(a) Exempted from this chapter are the
following:
(1) Health care facilities
including hospitals, freestanding surgical outpatient facilities, skilled
nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, adult residential care homes,
adult foster care homes, special treatment facilities and programs, home health
agencies, freestanding birthing facilities, adult day health centers, and
independent group residences.
(2)
School dormitories of a public or private educational institution providing
education in grades kindergarten through twelve, or of any institution of
higher education.
(3) Lodging
provided by nonprofit corporations or associations for religious, charitable,
or educational purposes; provided that this exemption shall apply only to the
activities of the religious, charitable, or educational corporation or
association as such and not to any rental or gross rental the primary purpose
of which is to produce income even if the income is used for or in furtherance
of the exempt activities of such religious, charitable, or educational
corporation or association.
(4)
Living accommodations for persons in the military on permanent duty assignment
to Hawaii, including the furnishing of transient accommodations to those
military personnel who receive temporary lodging allowances while seeking
accommodations in Hawaii or while awaiting reassignment to new duty stations
outside the State. This exemption does not apply to transient accommodations
provided to persons in the military on permanent duty assignment in the State
and who have temporarily departed from their permanent homes and principal
establishments elsewhere in this State.
Example. A captain in the United States Army
rents a condominium unit in Waikiki for one month while looking for permanent
housing in Hawaii. The gross income received by the hotel operator is not
subject to the transient accommodations tax because the captain is seeking
living accommodations in Hawaii.
(5) Low-income renters receiving rental
subsistence from the state or federal governments and whose rental periods are
for durations shorter than sixty days.
(6) Operators of transient accommodations who
furnish accommodations to full-time students enrolled in an institution
offering post-secondary education. This exemption shall also apply to operators
who furnish transient accommodations to students during summer
employment.
Example. A pineapple company provides lodging to
employees who travel to Lanai to work in the pineapple fields. During the
summer, the pineapple company employs high school and college students to work
in the fields on Lanai and provides lodging to the students during their period
of summer employment. Although the lodging provided by the pineapple company is
for a period of less than 180 days, the pineapple company is not subject to the
transient accommodations tax for such lodging because operators who furnish
transient accommodations to students during summer employment are exempt under
the law.
(7) Accommodations furnished
without charge such as, but not limited to, complimentary accommodations,
accommodations furnished to contract personnel such as physicians, golf or
tennis professionals, swimming and dancing instructors, and other personnel to
whom no salary is paid or to employees who receive room and board as part of
their salary or compensation.
(8)
Accommodations furnished to foreign diplomats and consular officials who are
holding cards issued or authorized by the United States Department of State
granting them an exemption from state taxes.
Example. The Consul General of Australia is in
Hawaii for official business and rents a hotel room in Waikiki for one week.
The Consul General holds a card issued by the United States Department of State
granting an exemption from state hotel taxes. The gross income received by the
hotel operator will not be subject to the transient accommodations tax.
(b) Accommodations furnished to transients
who present cards or certificates stating that the holder is exempted from
state hotel room taxes are nevertheless transient accommodations and their
operators are subject to the tax except as provided in chapter 237D, HRS, and
these rules.
(c) There is no
transient accommodations tax exemption for gross income received by an operator
for the rental of transient accommodations to a nonmilitary employee of the
federal government or an employee of a state government.
Example. An employee of the United States
Department of the Interior is in Hawaii for official business and rents a hotel
room in Waikiki for one week. The gross income received by the hotel operator
is subject to the transient accommodations tax because there is no transient
accommodations tax exemption for renting transient accommodations to a
non-military employee of the federal government.
(d) The director shall determine the
sufficiency of the proof necessary for the application of the exemptions set
forth in subsection (a). The necessary proof includes the following:
(1) To qualify for an exemption under
subsection (a)(4) the operator shall require that the person in the military on
permanent duty assignment present the following at the time of check-in:
(A) An identification card with a serial
number which verifies the person's military status; and
(B) A copy of the orders prepared by the
military organization verifying the period for which the temporary lodging
allowance is received.
The operator shall maintain copies of documents supporting any
claim for an exemption under this paragraph for three years.
(2) To qualify for the full-time
student enrollment exemption of subsection (a)(6) the operator shall require
the student to submit proof signed by the registrar or other authorized agent
of the post-secondary institution certifying the full-time enrollment of the
student for each school semester. For the purpose of this paragraph, full-time
enrollment is defined as follows:
(A) For an
undergraduate student:
(i) Twelve credits or
more per semester; or
(ii) Six
credits or more per summer term.
(B) For a graduate student:
(i) Eight credits or more per semester when
the student is enrolled in two or more graduate level courses;
(ii) Nine credits or more per semester when
the graduate student is enrolled in one graduate level course;
(iii) Twelve credits or more, when the
student is enrolled in no graduate level courses; or
(iv) Six credits or more per summer
term.
