Vehicle purchasers in Hawaiʻi have to pay the state’s 4.5% general excise tax.
But since 1970, rental car companies have not had to pay the tax when buying cars for their fleets. Instead, those companies pay a wholesale tax rate of 0.5%.
The state House of Representatives passed a law that would subject rental car fleet purchases to the full general excise tax. The measure will next be heard by the Senate…