Short-Term Rental Laws in Kihei, Hawaii

Kihei sits in Maui County under one of the strictest STR frameworks in the country. Short-term rentals (<180 days) are permitted by right ONLY in Hotel (H-1, H-2, H-M), Apartment-Hotel (A-1H, A-2H), and a small number of grandfathered "Apartment District" condominium projects on the published Maui County Minatoya List (the binding inventory of legally STR-able apartment-district properties). All other residential parcels (R-1, R-2, R-3, RU) require a "Short-Term Rental Home" (STRH) permit which is issued sparingly and capped per community plan area — South Maui's STRH cap is essentially closed to new applications. Mayor Bissen's 2024 proposal to phase out apartment-district STRs (the Minatoya List itself) is moving through Council and would, if adopted, eliminate the largest legal STR inventory in Kihei. UNCERTAINTY: monitor Maui County Council 2025–2026 sessions.

Kihei legal STR inventory concentrated in Hotel + Apartment-Hotel zoned resort condominium projects (Kihei Akahi, Kamaole Sands, Maui Banyan, Maui Sunset, Maui Vista, Kihei Kai, etc.) plus the Minatoya-List grandfathered apartment-district condos. Single-family residential (R-1/R-2/R-3) STRs require an STRH permit and the South Maui community plan area STRH cap is at or near full — new STRH permits are essentially unavailable. Confirm Minatoya List status + zoning + STRH cap availability via Maui County Planning Department BEFORE any offer. The Hawaii ban_status here is "partial" because of the resort-zone carve-outs; the default for any non-resort-zoned parcel is effectively full ban.

Operators must hold a short-term rental permit before listing. See the official permit portal.

Maui County Planning Department + Department of Liquor and License + State of Hawaii DOTAX jointly enforce. Operating an unpermitted STR: civil penalty $20,000+ per violation per day under Maui County Code (one of the steepest STR-violation penalty structures in the US). Maui County actively cross-references Airbnb/Vrbo against the registered STR inventory. The 2024–2026 enforcement posture has been aggressive in response to housing-supply pressure from the post-Lahaina-fire displacement. State of Hawaii GET + TAT registration is mandatory alongside county permitting.

Combined short-term lodging tax in Kihei is approximately 17.420% of gross nightly revenue (state sales + state TRT + local TRT + applicable resort/city options).

Hawaii State General Excise Tax 4.166% + Hawaii Transient Accommodations Tax 10.25% + Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax 3% — combined ~17.42% on transient lodging

Verify the current combined rate via the Utah State Tax Commission before remitting — rates drift quarterly.