Need to know the best way to include Hawaii GET and TAT taxes in pricing for bookings. This needs to be collected up front and paid, in turn, by me to the State of Hawaii. Also, will this preclude instant bookings if I use a "Special Offer"?
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Hi Bob & Ivonne,
Greetings of the day & I hope this message finds you in the best of your health and high spirits. My name is Neeraj and I am a part of Airbnb's Customer Experience Team.
First of all, I am glad that you took out time and you reported this to us. I do see that you are associated with Airbnb from last 6 years. I would really like to thank you for investing your trust in us. It really means a lot.
I have checked the details for you and I have the solution and the alternative as well.
1) As far as the Hawaii GET and TAT taxes are concerned, there is no way to include in the pricings for bookings but what you can do is, you can clearly mention that all the guests need to pay these taxes during the check in time. You can mention this under the ''Description'' section of your listing. This way all your guests will be able to see that they also need to pay these taxes and then will proceed with the booking accordingly. I have also shared the screenshot of the ''Description'' where you can mention the same.
2) Secondly, in order to include this amount, you can include these taxes when you send a ''Special Offer'' to your guests. Otherwise, you can simply collect it once your guest checks in as you would neways be mentioning in the ''Description'' section of your listing.
I hope this sheds light to your concern Bob & Ivonne.
Your beautiful listing & positive reviews do outshine your personality & express all positive about how responsible you are & the efforts you take to ensure everything is just perfect for your guests. We really want to take a moment & say thank you so much for what you do, Bob & Ivonne.
Should you face any issue or need additional assistance, please feel free to get back to me directly by replying to this message and I will be glad to assist you. We truly value your presence within our Airbnb community and wish you have a wonderful journey with us.🙂
Warmest Regards,
In regards to your response:
1) These taxes need to be paid when the client pays their rental payment as there is no way to ensure collection of the tax once the guest has arrived at the residence. I have therefore included the amount of the GE and TAT tax in the rental amount, as is customary here in Hawaii. Unfortunately this puts me at a competitive disadvantage with those who do not collect this tax here (not collecting and remitting this tax is illegal here, you understand, but that will not stop others from doing this), as their prices will be lower. Airbnb needs to find a better way of handling this, and one way would be to include a tax line on the amounts due, as is customary with your competitors.
2) The Special Offer might seem like a reasonable solution, but this would preclude “instant bookings” and also put us at a competitive disadvantage by not allowing them. Additionally, the “Special Offer” concept is generally understood to be a “better” or “discounted” offer to the client, not an increase in the stated price!
It would seem to me that I am left with no alternative to adding these taxes to the rental price so the money will be forthcoming from the guest for payment to the State of Hawaii. Why cannot Airbnb add a line to the prices that will allow us to include local taxes? This is the simplest solution and best for both host and guest!
