Oahu folks divided on having Airbnb act as tax collector

Oahu residents generally think homeowners should be able to rent part or all of their homes to visitors, but results of the latest Hawaii Poll were evenly split on whether online travel booking sites like Airbnb should collect taxes for clients.

In the latest Oahu telephone poll, conducted for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser by Ward Research Inc., 63 percent of participants said property owners should be allowed to rent all or part of their home to visitors. Only 36 percent said property owners should be restricted from renting their homes to visitors. About 1 percent declined to answer.

Among the 401 likely primary voters on Oahu surveyed, younger participants and members of the middle class were more apt to support homes used as vacation rentals. Most supporters came from East Honolulu, while most opponents came from the Ewa/Leeward Coast. The margin of error for the poll, which took place April 3-8, was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

“Being a landlord is challenging but it’s your property. As long as you aren’t doing something illegal, you can do what you want. That’s your castle, ” said Jesus Ramos, a 47-year-old Ewa Beach real estate agent.

Jamie Louis, a 39-year-old social worker who works two jobs, said she supports Airbnb as a “creative way” for residents “to make ends meet” in high-cost Hawaii.

Popular support for a home-based vacation rental industry comes as city and state lawmakers attempt to figure out how homeowners can contribute to increased tourism and tax revenues without damaging the character of residential neighborhoods.

State lawmakers are considering two bills that would allow online vacation rental hosting sites like Airbnb to collect and pay taxes on behalf of their clients.

The Honolulu City Council deferred a resolution this month that would amend the city’s Land Use Ordinance to allow neighbors to file a civil case against operators of illegal vacation rentals. The Council is expected to revisit the issue in May.

Poll results skewed toward property rights; however, lobbying by opposition groups in the 1990s resulted in Oahu’s current moratorium on expanding home-based vacation rentals outside of resort areas.

Kau‘i Pratt-Aquino, a 39-year-old attorney from the Windward side, told pollsters she opposes vacation rental use of homes.

“Airbnb is bad for Hawaii. It basically commercializes our neighborhoods,” she said. “It’s an assault on working families.”

Pratt-Aquino said the model, which has strayed outside of county zoning laws, cuts hotel industry jobs and contributes to the housing crisis.

She also opposes allowing hosting sites like Airbnb to serve as tax collectors. Some 49 percent of those polled supported allowing Airbnb to become a tax collector, while 48 percent were opposed. Three percent declined to answer.

Greg Oyape, a 54-year-old Ewa Beach poll respondent, said he favors the Airbnb tax measure and home-based vacation rentals.

“It’s not a life-or-death industry, but it’s an alternative. Hotel rooms are really expensive,” Oyape said. “I think they have to do whatever they need to do to make sure it’s a legal rental, and then it should be taxed like any other business.”

Younger poll respondents and Democrats were more apt to support the Airbnb tax measure.

Public poll on Airbnb by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd