Fees, Surcharges and Taxes on Hawaii Car Rentals

Car rental taxes and fees are manditory industry-wide charges required by the State of Hawaii.

Car rental companies only get to keep the base rate. All taxes, fees and surcharges collected go to the State.

• Hawaii Rental Motor Vehicle Surcharge Tax: $3.00/day
  As a way of generating more revenue for the general fund to operate the state of Hawaii, the state requires the car rental companies to pay a surcharge tax on rental vehicles. This tax is applied at all rental car locations. 

• Hawaii Rental Vehicle Customer Facility Charge: $4.50/day
  This fee goes into special funds for the purpose of enhancement, renovation, operation, and maintenance of existing rental motor vehicle customer facilities and the development of new rental motor vehicle customer facilities and related services at state airports. This tax is applied at all airport locations. 

• Airport Concessionaire / Permittee Fee: 11.11%
  For those who choose an airport rental car company there’s an additional tax called Airport Concessionaire / Permittee Fee. This 11.11% tax is assessed to the Base Rate and Vehicle License Fee at the Honolulu Airport but only to the Base Rate at neighbor island airports. This tax is applied at all airport locations. If you choose a non-airport location, also known as an off-site or off-airport location, you will not have to pay this tax. 

• Honolulu County Tax: 0.546% (Oahu Only)
  If you’re renting in Oahu there is a Honolulu County Tax that is added to your rental car cost.  This tax is applied at Oahu locations.

• Vehicle License Fee, aka Vehicle Registration Fee / Weight Tax: $0.35 to $1.45/day
  All locations are also required to charge a Vehicle License Fee, also known as a Registration Fee / Weight Tax. 

• GET – Hawaii State General Excise Tax: 4.166%
  In addition, a GET – Hawaii State General Excise Tax, similar to a sales tax, is required to be added to your rental cost. This tax is applied at all locations.

   

Renting at Airport vs In-Town

Savings: $47.65 - Save 22% - Rent your car in town

Other added on fees, surcharges and penalties: (Mandatory and non-mandatory)
Some additional fees that you may be charged for include the Extended Rental Surcharge fees, which are added when someone decides to extend their rental agreement an additional day or more. Some companies will even change an Early Return Fee if you decide to return the vehicle a day or more early. Of course there are Overtime Charges if you are late bringing the car back on the day you're supposed to. Overtime fees are charged by the hour, usually not to exceed the daily rate.

What does this mean? "Surcharges and other fees are subject to tax in certain locations. Quoted taxes and fees are subject to change. " 
When you reserve online, some companies will issue the statement, "Surcharges and other fees are subject to tax in certain locations. This tax is not reflected in your reservation total and will be applied at time of rental. Quoted taxes and fees are subject to change which will affect your final total due at rental return." This is quite a mouth full of lingo to digest and understand, but exactly what does it mean? How much could the taxes, fees or other surcharges change? Why would they change? What certain locations? Well, lots of companies put this sort of thing in their fine print. 

Taxes on Surcharges: This is if there is a surcharge for an extra driver or underage surcharge, it will also be taxed.  

Local Taxes: If you’re ever charged anything extra for this, it’s usual a matter of a several cents to several dollars, less than $10 anyway as far as I can tell. This is put in the fine print because the rental car agencies can’t keep up with all the minor fractional variations in tax rates the various municipalities tack on. They do their best to provide you with a fairly accurate estimate (that's why it's called an estimate). I’ve never had anyone email me with a complaint about it.

Taxes on Add-ons: When you arrive in Hawaii and if you decide to order something like child safety seats, GPS Navigation, satellite radio, insurance protection, or decide to rent a more expensive vehicle, all they are saying is you will be taxed an additional amount on additional things ordered. 

Gasoline fill up fee: (Applies only if you do not fill up the tank)
Fuel charges can really add up as an additional fee if you don’t fill up the tank with gasoline when you return the rental. However, fuel can be prepaid beforehand with a set rate or you can simply fill up the tank before you return the vehicle.

Young driver surcharge: (Applies only for drivers age 21 to 24)

Many states require a full fee for underage drivers, but when renting your car through Hawaii Car Rentals, some companies reduce this charge. In 2013, through special arrangement with the various rental companies it represents and is a wholesale corporate discount vendor of, Hawaii Car Rentals is able to offer underage drivers who are age 21 to 24 a reduced rate as low as $10/day instead of the usual $27/day.

Additional driver surcharge: (The fee is waived is most cases)

In 2013, Hawaii Car Rentals has a pre-negotiated contractual agreement with Avis, Budget, Dollar, Thrifty and Enterprise that allows at least one additional driver at no charge. In some cases, the additional driver needs to be the spouse or domestic partner of the main driver. If you want to add more drivers than are already allowed for free, the cost is usually $12/day or more.  

Option & Accessories: (Optional and non-mandatory)
Options and accessories that have extra fees attached, if you choose to add them to your car rental, are child safety seats, GPS navigation, and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. 

Car rental insurance: (Optional and non-mandatory)

Avis, Budget, Dollar, Thrifty and Enterprise offers a variety of rental car Insurance Coverages, Protection Plans and Rates. Insurance protection is recommended though it is not mandatory. Prices vary between the various companies.