Kauai County, HI Short-Term Rentals: Permit Requirements (2026)

GOVERNING CODE. Kauai County Code Chapter 8, Article 17 (Time Sharing and Transient Vacation Rentals), originally Ordinance No. 864 (effective March 7, 2008), amended by Ordinance No. 904 and other ordinances. Section 8-17.11 governs Enforcement Against Illegal Transient Vacation Rentals. Administered by the County of Kauai Planning Department, 4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Lihue (808-241-4050).

DEFINITION (Kauai County Code Article 17). A Transient Vacation Rental is a dwelling unit provided to transient occupants for compensation or fees, including club fees, or as part of interval ownership involving persons unrelated by blood, with a duration of occupancy of 180 days or less.

WHERE TVRs ARE ALLOWED. Single-family TVRs are permitted only inside a designated Visitor Destination Area (VDA), which includes Princeville on the North Shore, Po'ipu on the South Shore, the Wailua/Kapa'a coastal tourism corridor on the East Side, and resort areas in Lihue. Outside VDAs, single-family TVRs are prohibited unless a valid Nonconforming Use Certificate (NCU) was issued for operation that pre-dated March 7, 2008. The County does not issue new NCUs for areas outside VDAs after March 30, 2009. Multi-family TVRs in apartment-zoned condominium projects have separate provisions under Article 17.

NCU CERTIFICATES. The owner, operator, or proprietor of any single-family TVR which operated outside a VDA prior to March 7, 2008 was required to obtain a Nonconforming Use Certificate. NCUs must be renewed annually; failure to renew terminates the right to operate. NCUs are tied to the specific dwelling and use, not freely transferable, and may be revoked for code violations.

ANNUAL RENEWAL APPLICATION. Existing TVR/NCU holders must submit an annual TVR Renewal Application to the Planning Department. The Planning Department instructs applicants not to submit more than 60 days before expiration and to retain at least 10 days remaining on the existing permit when filing the renewal. The County does not send reminder notices; renewal is the owner's responsibility. Late or lapsed renewals can result in loss of TVR status.

STATE TAX REGISTRATION (mandatory for all TVRs statewide). Operators must register with the Hawaii Department of Taxation and obtain (a) a General Excise Tax license under HRS Chapter 237 ($20 one-time registration fee) and (b) a Transient Accommodations Tax license under HRS Chapter 237D for stays under 180 consecutive days. Both numbers must be displayed in any advertisement or listing under HRS Section 237D-4(c). Statewide TAT is 10.25% through 2025 and increases to 11% on January 1, 2026 under Act 96 (the 'Green Fee'). Kauai County imposes an additional County TAT surcharge of 3% authorized by HRS Section 237D-2.5 (administered by the Kauai Department of Finance via tat.ehawaii.gov/tat/kauai). Combined transient lodging taxes on Kauai run approximately 17.75% through 2025 (4% GET + 0.5% Kauai county GET surcharge where applicable + 10.25% State TAT + 3% Kauai County TAT) and increase in 2026.

SB 2919 (2024) STATE AUTHORITY. On May 2, 2024, Hawaii Governor Josh Green signed SB 2919 (Act 53) into law, granting Hawaii's counties express authority to amortize, phase out, or otherwise regulate transient accommodations in residential and agricultural zoning districts through zoning ordinances. Kauai's existing VDA restriction predates SB 2919 by 15 years; the new state authority gives Kauai additional tools to phase out remaining TVRs outside VDAs in the future, though no countywide phase-out ordinance has been enacted as of this writing.

ORDINANCE 904. Kauai Ordinance No. 904 (Bill No. 2364, Draft 2) amended Article 17 to refine TVR provisions including procedures for nonconforming use certificates and enforcement against illegal operators. The ordinance allocates fines collected to the Development Fund for personnel and contractor costs to assist in NCU review/renewal and Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance enforcement.

ADVERTISING AND DISPLAY. Hawaii state law (HRS Section 237D-4(c)) requires every transient accommodation advertisement to conspicuously display the operator's TAT registration number and (where applicable) the local registration identifier. Kauai TVR holders must include their TVR/NCU number and TAT number in all listings on platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and direct websites.

CONTACTS. Kauai Planning Department, 4444 Rice Street, Suite A473, Lihue, HI 96766, (808) 241-4050. Kauai Department of Finance — Transient Accommodations Tax Office. Hawaii Department of Taxation: tax.hawaii.gov.

SEPARATE COUNTIES. The City and County of Honolulu (Oahu), County of Maui, and County of Hawaii each administer their own STR/TVR/TVU permit systems with different rules; this entry covers the County of Kauai only.