Make less income or have more expenses?

[Cassie Chun]

One of my tenants is going to do the yard work/maintenance regularly. Is it better to take $100/month off his rent (make less income) or pay him $100/month (have more expenses)? In Hawaii, we pay 4% general excise tax on rental income. From a tax perspective, I'm not sure if it's better to have less income or more deductible rental expenses, or would it not matter either way?