Occupancy Tax at Worldmark Indio

It seems that we will be charged an Occupancy tax of about $8.50 per day for our stay next month. We got this resort on an Extra Vacation. Do many resorts in California levy this charge? We stayed at Lawrence Welk a few years ago and did not have to pay extra. Seems like a rip, to me.

Dori

I know Laguna Beach, California has an occupancy tax much higher than yours!!! I think it depends on the county/city the timeshare is in.

Hawaii has an occupancy tax, too - the call it a transient accommodations tax (TAT) and it's 6% + 4% general excise tax. Some people mistakenly think it goes to the homeless! It's the state or county, not the resort, charging that fee. (Correction - it looks like the TAT is 7.25% now.)

It looks like Worldmark does post that Info. on the resort webpage and it's 12% in Indio.

In Hawaii what amount to they use to determine the 6% and 4% to charge?

I found this explanation on the State of Hawaii Dept. of Taxation Web Page

The transient accommodations tax is a 6% tax levied on a business' gross rental income which consists of the total income received for the rental, but does not include separate charges for guest amenities such as meals and telephone calls, and also does not include any general excise or transient accommodations taxes which are visibly passed on to the guest or tenant. Operators of transient accommodations must pay the 6% TAT, and also the general excise tax at the rate of 4%

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It looks like the TAT rate has gone up to 7.25% since the article was written.

DeniseM said:

I found this explanation on the State of Hawaii Dept. of Taxation Web Page


It looks like the TAT rate has gone up to 7.25% since the article was written.

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This one is more recent and reflects the decision to include timeshares in the TAT tax:
http://www.state.hi.us/tax/announce/98ann21.htm

How does Hawaii determine the value of the exchange or of your owner week if you are an owner?

eal said:

How does Hawaii determine the value of the exchange or of your owner week if you are an owner?

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From the article I quoted:
The TAT will be imposed on timeshare plan managers based upon the unit's "fair market rental value," which is defined in HRS section 237D-1 as "an amount equal to one-half the gross daily maintenance fees that are paid by the owner, are attributable to the time share unit, and include maintenance costs, operational costs, insurance, repair costs, administrative costs, taxes, other than transient accommodations taxes, and other costs including payments required for reserves or sinking funds. The taxpayer shall use gross daily maintenance fees, unless the taxpayer proves or the director determines that the gross daily maintenance fees do not fairly represent fair market rental value taking into account comparable transient accommodation rentals or by other appraisal methods."

WorldMark and TAT

The situation with WorldMark in Indio is a little bit different from the situation in Hawaii. With WorldMark, the developer TrendWest (now Wyndham) actually went to the city of Indio and proposed the TAT in exchange for lower development fees for the improvements needed to support the project. This had the effect of transferring costs that are usually paid upfront by the developer onto the owners and exchangers to be paid over the years through the TAT. It wasn't something that was mandatory or an across the board tax on timeshares like what there is in Hawaii.

TrendWest reportedly has done similar things in other areas as well. That's why many WorldMark resorts have TAT while nearby resorts that were built by different developers do not. Let's hope other developers don't start to follow this example.

Steve

I knew when we went to the Big Island a couple of weeks ago that we would have to pay the TAT.

I guess I didn't mind since I was in HAWAII...

But I am not sure I would be happy paying it in Indio, of all places!

I'm not happy about it either. It adds about an extra $60 on top of the cost of the Extra Vacation. Well, hopefully we will recoup some of that in the nearby casinos! LOL

Dori

RIP-off

This particular tax (Indio's) is going to Trendwest to pay, I guess, for part of the cost of construction, or for extra profit. Trendwest was owned by Cendant at the time of the arrangement.

Now it's owned by Wyndamn!

After a number of years (ten?) the tax will go to Indio. Trendwest won't care where it goes, if it's not going to them.

How can this thread get so deep without somebody saying something about this rip-off? Are we becoming sheep? Carp?

Topeka Tom, you can bet I'm not a happy camper. I certainly do feel this is a cash grab. We have been timesharing for 16 years and never had to pay this anywhere we have travelled.

Dori