How to Start a Short-Term Rental Business on Maui: Bill 9 Phase-Out, B&B and Short-Term Rental Home Permits, and the 3% County TAT

A Maui short term rental business has more permit paths than most first-time owners expect, and the rules depend on where the property sits, how it is zoned, and how you plan to operate it. The order matters. Confirm zoning first, because it decides whether you can operate at all. Then form your entity, register for the General Excise Tax (GET), and set up transient accommodations tax (TAT) collection.

Disclaimer: This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Maui's zoning and tax rules are changing, and some ordinances are still moving through the county process. Talk with a qualified land use attorney and a CPA before you buy property or sign a lease for a rental.

Materials and Information You Need Before You Start

• The tax map key (TMK) number and deed or lease for the property
• Written confirmation of the parcel's zoning district and community plan region from the Maui County Planning Department
• Any condo, co-op, or HOA bylaws and house rules that govern short-term stays
• Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) if you form an LLC, including a Hawaii street address for your registered agent
• Trade Name Registration (Form T-1) if you will operate under a name other than the entity's legal name
• A Hawaii Business Express (HBE) account at hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov
• The GET license application (Form BB-1) or access to Hawaii Tax Online
• A liability insurance quote that specifically covers short-term guests
• A budget that includes filing fees, tax deposits, and a possible increase in property tax classification

Step 1: Confirm Your Zoning and Bill 9 Status

This is the step that can end a project before it starts. Maui County Bill 9 (2025) passed final reading 5 to 3 on December 15, 2025, and the mayor signed it the same day. It phases out transient vacation rentals, meaning rentals under 180 days, only in the apartment-zoned A-1 and A-2 districts. According to the Council's release, the prohibition starts in 2029 in West Maui and in 2031 in the rest of the county. Treat those dates as a summary. Read the ordinance text and ask Planning to confirm the exact date that applies to your parcel.

Bill 9 does not reach bed and breakfast homes under Maui County Code (MCC) chapter 19.64, short-term rental homes under chapter 19.65, or hotel-zoned properties. Maui did not ban vacation rentals. The phase-out is limited to specific apartment districts.

Also watch Bill 88. The Council passed it 7 to 2 in June 2026, and it creates H-3 and H-4 hotel districts. Rezonings of listed properties are pending, and the Maui Planning Commission is due to return them to the Council by November 24, 2026. If your parcel might be affected, ask Planning in writing whether it is on the list.

Step 2: Choose Your Permit Path

Once zoning is clear, identify which permit track applies. The fees and operating conditions for each track are set by the code, and they can change, so confirm current figures with Planning before you budget.

Property type	Governing rules	What to confirm with Planning
Bed and breakfast home	MCC chapter 19.64	Current permit requirements, fees, and operating conditions
Short-term rental home (STRH)	MCC chapter 19.65	Current permit requirements, fees, and whether your community plan region has capacity
Hotel-zoned property	Hotel zoning, outside Bill 9	Whether the parcel is affected by pending H-3 or H-4 rezonings under Bill 88
A-1 or A-2 apartment district	Bill 9 phase-out	The exact prohibition date that applies to your parcel

Step 3: Check the Community Plan Region Cap for STRHs

Short-term rental homes under chapter 19.65 are capped by community plan region, so availability depends on where the property is located, not just whether you meet the basic requirements. Ask Planning how many STRH permits remain in your region before you put money into a purchase or a lease. An application that is complete but falls outside the cap will not move forward.

Step 4: Form Your Entity and Name Your Registered Agent

Most owners use an LLC. The filing fee is $50, paid with Form LLC-1 through Hawaii Business Express. Your name must include Limited Liability Company, LLC, or L.L.C. You may abbreviate Limited as Ltd. and Company as Co. The name cannot be substantially identical to one already registered. Check availability free in the BREG business name search at hbe.dcca.hawaii.gov/search-and-buy. If you need time, a name reservation costs $10 and lasts 120 days.

Your registered agent must be an individual or an entity authorized to transact business in Hawaii, and must be physically present in the state. The Articles must list the agent's complete Hawaii street address. An LLC cannot be its own registered agent. A commercial registered agent must also file a listing statement with BREG for $100.00.

Once registered, the annual report costs $12.50 and is due by the end of the calendar quarter that matches your registration quarter. An entity registered January 1 to March 31 files by March 31. An entity registered July 1 to September 30 files by September 30. No report is due in the year you register. If you register on February 10, 2027, your first annual report is due March 31, 2028.

Expedited review normally adds $25.00 per document. BREG has said expedited processing is not available at this time following its July 6, 2026 move to a new registration system, so do not plan your opening date around it. Check the BREG page for current processing information.

Step 5: Register a Trade Name if You Need One

If your listing or booking profile uses a brand name that differs from your entity name, register a trade name on Form T-1 at cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/trade. The fee is $50.00, plus a $1.00 State Archives preservation fee. A trade name registration is valid for five years, and the Department does not send renewal notices, so calendar the renewal yourself. Hawaii has no county-level DBA filing.

Step 6: Get Your General Excise Tax License

Hawaii has no general statewide business license and no county general business license. Registering an entity or a trade name is a filing, not a license. The one universal state registration is the General Excise Tax license. It costs a one-time $20 and stays active until you close, surrender, or lose it. You can apply on Form BB-1 or through Hawaii Tax Online at tax.hawaii.gov/get. Online applications are generally processed in 5 to 7 business days, and mailed applications in 4 to 6 weeks.

GET is a tax on your gross receipts, not a tax the state collects directly from the guest. For rental income, the rate is 4.0 percent plus the 0.5 percent county surcharge, for a total of 4.5 percent. If you visibly pass GET on to guests, the maximum pass-on rate is 4.7120 percent. Every license holder must file returns, including periods with no income, so set a filing reminder before your first booking.

Step 7: Set Up TAT Collection on Top of GET

Lodging on Maui carries layered taxes. The state transient accommodations tax is 11 percent. Maui County adds its own 3 percent TAT under MCC chapter 3.47, in effect since November 1, 2021. GET applies on top of both. Build all three into your pricing model before you set a nightly rate, and do not assume a rate that looks competitive on paper still works after taxes.

Confirm your state TAT registration and reporting duties with the Hawaii Department of Taxation at tax.hawaii.gov, and confirm the county 3 percent requirements with Maui County directly.

Step 8: Budget for the Property Tax Class

Properties used as a TVR or STRH fall into a property tax class with higher rates than long-term residential use. For FY2027, the rate for this class is $13.00 to $17.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. As a rough illustration only, an assessed value of $800,000 would produce $10,400 to $13,600 per year at those rates. Your actual bill depends on your assessed value and the classification the county applies, so confirm both with the county before you finalize your numbers.

Step 9: Address Insurance, Lease Terms, and Association Rules

Standard homeowner or landlord policies often exclude paid short-term guests. Ask your insurer in writing whether a short-term rental is covered and what endorsement you need. If you lease the property, confirm that the lease allows subletting for short stays. For condos and HOAs, read the bylaws and house rules before you list the unit, because association rules can be stricter than county zoning.

Step 10: Check Employee and Food Obligations

If you hire cleaners, managers, or other employees, you must follow the Prepaid Health Care Act. Ask the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations how it applies to your staffing plan. If you plan to serve breakfast or any other food, contact the Hawaii Department of Health, because the state issues food permits and Hawaii has no county health department.

What Results to Expect

A well-prepared owner may find the process takes several weeks to several months, depending on zoning review, the STRH cap in the region, and state processing times. Once the entity, GET license, and tax setup are in place, you may be able to focus on listing and guest operations. Income depends on the property, location, season, and how the business is run, and no outcome can be promised. Treat the early steps as the work that protects the investment rather than a shortcut to bookings.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Assuming Bill 9 bans all vacation rentals. It phases out transient vacation rentals only in A-1 and A-2 apartment districts. Confirm your district before you buy.
• Treating a registration as a license. An LLC or trade name filing does not replace the GET license or any agency or county permit.
• Forgetting the first annual report date. No report is due in the year you register, but the first one is due by the end of your registration quarter the following year.
• Using a registered agent outside Hawaii. The agent must be physically present in the state, and an LLC cannot serve as its own agent.
• Skipping GET returns in slow months. Returns are required even when you earned no income.
• Letting a trade name lapse. Registration is valid for five years, and no renewal notice will arrive.
• Ignoring Bill 88. Pending hotel-district rezonings could affect a property that looks clear today.
• Pricing without taxes. GET, state TAT, and county TAT all affect the margin on each night.

Practical Tips

• Get zoning and permit answers in writing from the Maui County Planning Department before signing a purchase agreement or lease.
• Ask the Hawaii Small Business Development Center for guidance on forms and sequencing at hisbdc.org.
• Use the official Hawaii Business Express portal for filings, and search names before you pay for anything.
• Keep a single compliance calendar for the annual report, trade name renewal, GET returns, and any county permit renewals.
• Keep your SBA district contact handy for business planning questions at sba.gov/district/hawaii.

Next Steps

Start with zoning, because every other step depends on it. Then form the entity, register any trade name, get the GET license, and set your pricing with all tax layers included. Before you commit money, have a Hawaii attorney review the zoning and permit path, and have a CPA review your entity choice and tax setup. Those two conversations cost less than correcting a permit problem after the first booking.