RE:  Adoption of Proposed Amendments to Chapter 18-251, Hawaii Administrative Rules, on the Rental Motor Vehicle and Tour Vehicle Surcharge Tax Law, Chapter 251, Hawaii Revised Statutes
 

The amendments incorporate changes made to the Rental Motor Vehicle and Tour Vehicle Surcharge Tax Law by Act 77, SLH 1992, which focused on the tour vehicle industry and Act 126, SLH 1992, which made changes affecting the rental motor vehicle industry.

Act 77, SLH 1992, takes effect on January 1, 1993. With respect to the tour vehicle industry, the rules implement that Act and amend the definition of “tour vehicle” to include those vehicles that transport person to pleasure or sightseeing cruises or destinations. The rules also amend the definition of “tour vehicle operator” to mean a person who owns, manages, or dispatches tour vehicles, and deletes the requirement that such an operator be regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. Finally, the $65 tour vehicle surcharge tax applies to tour vehicles which seat over 25 passengers, and the $15 tour vehicle surcharge tax applies to tour vehicles that have between 8 and 25 passenger seats.

Act 126, SLH 1992, took effect on July 1, 1992. The rules implement that Act and amend the definition of “rental motor vehicle” or “vehicle” to include those vehicles designed to carry 17 or fewer passengers, and to exclude certain types of trucks, construction vehicles, and cargo vans from the tax.

Copies of the rules are available at the Technical Review Office of the Department of Taxation, Room 220, Keelikolani Building, 830 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.

For information or to request a copy of the proposed rules, call the Department of Taxation, Technical Review Office at 587-1577.
 

/s/
RICHARD F. KAHLE, JR.
Director of Taxation