Question: I have a small beach cottage that I sometimes rent out on weekends, if I am not using it. It is tiny. My boyfriend says I have to pay the TAT on it, but I thought that was for hotels. Is he right? If so, do I have to pay it even if my brother or another relative is staying in it?
Answer: Yes, you must pay Hawaii’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) if you are charging someone to stay in the cottage on weekends, even if that person is a member of the family, according to the state Department of Taxation. This would be in addition to the general excise tax (GET), which you also should be paying, even for a beach cottage you rent out only on the weekends, the Tax Department explains in Tax Facts 96-2, a publication on its website, tax.hawaii.gov.
TAT is commonly referred as a hotel tax, but it’s much broader than that.
“A transient accommodation is a room, apartment, house, condominium, beach house, hotel room, suite or similar living accommodation rented to a transient for less than 180 consecutive days in exchange for payment in cash, goods or service,” the department says.
A transient is anyone, including a Hawaii resident, who has a permanent home elsewhere and doesn’t live permanently in the rented accommodation.
Certain types of temporary housing are exempt from the TAT; school dormitories, military housing and lodging supplied as part of a job contract are just a few of the exemptions.
Q: Will USC admission notifications for the fall be delayed because of the federal investigation?
A: No. The University of Southern California says on its website that admission decision letters for first-year applicants will be mailed Thursday and that decisions will be available online Saturday at 5 p.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Hawaii time). This is for students hoping to enroll as freshmen in the fall and who submitted a complete application by the January deadline.
The university says it has determined which students applying for fall admission are connected to the alleged bribery and cheating scheme and that those students will be rejected.
USC also has placed holds on the accounts of current students who may be connected to the scandal. They have been notified that their status is under review and that they won’t be able to register for classes or acquire transcripts in the meantime.
“Following the review, we will take the proper action related to their status, up to revoking admission or expulsion,” USC said Monday.
A sweeping federal investigation alleges that a college-prep firm devised a “side door” into elite colleges, including USC, that relied on bribery, lying and cheating. You can read about the cases at 808ne.ws/fedcase, the website of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, where the indictments originated.
Q: Some time ago you mentioned a place to look for rebates on appliances. Please repeat, as I can’t remember.
A: Hawaii Energy, at hawaiienergy.com. Click on “Rebates” at the top of the home page.
Mahalo
A belated and very big mahalo to the kind and honest gentleman who found my wallet in the Mililani Foodland parking lot in early March and turned it in to the courtesy counter. I don’t know how I could have dropped it, and didn’t notice it was missing until I went to another store and had to pay for my purchase. What a frightening thought to lose your wallet with everything in it, including ID, cash and credit cards! Everything was intact, and I am forever grateful that an honest person like you found it. May good fortune be yours always! — Grateful senior
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
