Maui County launches online TAT portal nearly three years after audit flagged collection problems

The Maui County Department of Finance has launched an online portal for managing county transient accommodations tax accounts, nearly three years after the county auditor flagged problems with how the county tracks and collects the tax.

The portal, called myMauiTAT, went live Oct. 5, according to a county news release issued Friday. It is available at mauicounty.gov/tat, and taxpayers must register before making payments through the system. The first due date under the new system is today, Tuesday, Oct. 20, for September monthly and third-quarter filing periods.

On Oct. 16, Maui Now asked the county how much has been recovered of the more than $9.3 million in county transient accommodations taxes identified by the auditor as delinquent as of June 30, 2022. On Monday, the county directed Maui Now to submit the request through its online public records process.

Account holders can make payments; view balances, filings and account activity; and receive due-date reminders. They also can view notices, correspond securely with the Department of Finance’s TAT office, and update their contact information and communication preferences. The system works on computers, tablets and mobile devices, the county said.

“With the launch of myMauiTAT, we’re making it easier and more convenient for operators to manage their accounts through a modern, secure online platform,” said Department of Finance Director Marcy Martin. “This new tool streamlines processes and helps our staff provide more efficient, responsive service to operators.”

Payments by bank account through eCheck or ACH are free, the county said. Credit card payments continue to carry a fee of $2.50 per Hawaiʻi Tax ID, or TA account number, plus a 2.5% processing fee charged by the county’s third-party card processor. Taxpayers who prefer not to use the portal can still pay by mail or county drop box.

Account holders can view filing and payment history dating to 2021, when the county began administering the tax under a state law authorizing counties to impose their own transient accommodations taxes. The county tax took effect Nov. 1, 2021.

Audits and Council scrutiny

A report by County Auditor Lance Taguchi, completed in December 2023 and presented to the Maui County Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee in March 2024, found that the Department of Finance was understaffed and unprepared when it began collecting the tax. More than $9.3 million in county TAT was delinquent as of June 30, 2022, the report found.

In July 2024, the committee discussed an annual financial audit, completed in March by N&K CPAs Inc., that identified a “material weakness” in the county’s TAT accounting. The audit attributed the problem to delays in implementing software to reconcile taxpayers’ payments with their state filings and to track delinquencies, penalties and interest.

At that meeting, Taguchi told the committee that unpaid taxes become harder to collect over time. “The longer this goes, the harder it will be to collect,” he said.

Martin, then the acting finance director, told the committee the department’s TAT section was by then fully staffed. She said the department was preparing a request for proposals for software but had not yet issued it. Martin called it “a top priority.”

The county’s news release did not say whether myMauiTAT resulted from that procurement process.

Request for update

Maui Now’s request, sent the afternoon of Oct. 16 to the Department of Finance and the county Communications Office, asked how much of the delinquent amount has been recovered and how much remains outstanding.

The Communications Office responded, saying it was checking on the request. The, on Monday, it replied: “Because your request requires extensive data analysis, please submit your request through the County’s UIPA (Uniform Information Practices Act) portal.” The Department of Finance did not respond separately.

Maui Now submitted an online UIPA request Tuesday morning and sought a fee waiver on the grounds that disclosure would be in the public interest.

Taxpayers with questions about their accounts can contact the Department of Finance TAT office at 808-270-7637 or mauitat@mauicounty.gov. More information and frequently asked questions are at mauicounty.gov/tat.