Research Note: Are Hotel Property Taxes Fully Passed on to Hotel Guests? Implications from Recent Research on Property Tax Incidence

James Mak
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James Mak: Department of Economics and University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2424 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

Tourism Economics, 2015, vol. 21, issue 4, 899-905

Abstract: Recent research on the excise tax effects of the property tax in small, multi-sector open economies suggests that the property tax may not be fully forward shifted to consumers, as previously believed. This paper adapts this analysis to examine whether local hotel property taxes in Hawaii are fully passed on to hotel guests as lawmakers had intended. The paper concludes that full forward shifting is unlikely. It argues that an excise/sales tax on hotel occupancy is preferable to the property tax as a tourist tax.

Keywords: hotel occupancy tax; hotel property tax incidence; tourist tax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:toueco:v:21:y:2015:i:4:p:899-905

DOI: 10.5367/te.2014.0378

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