Attorney Ron Heller, a Director at Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris Attorneys at Law, recently sat down with Mansion Global – a subsidiary of the Wall Street Journal – to contribute to an article on properties taxes in Hawaii.
In the article, Director Heller breaks down the possible tax classifications of two potential second homes to be purchased in Hawaii: a house and a serviced apartment. He explains that while a house would be treated as a non-primary residence for tax purposes, serviced apartments are much more complicated and can be treated differently by the tax code depending on the circumstances.
Depending on the individual unit and its use, a serviced apartment could be treated as residential property, hotel and resort property, or even commercial property. And that’s a very important distinction because while residential property is taxed at a fairly low rate, commercial property is taxed at a significantly higher rate, and resort property at the highest rate of all.
“Any generalization may be an oversimplification,” Heller said, noting that potential buyers need to thoroughly investigate the specific facts of an individual unit before making a decision to buy.
About Ron Heller
A Director at our firm and a practicing attorney in Hawaii for over 35 years, Ronald I. Heller focuses his practice on tax litigation, tax law and business disputes involving accounting and financial issues. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant, a past Chair of the Tax Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.