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Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'

Sunday, April 10, 2016
Hawaii Fuel Tax: Schizophrenia in Motion
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3776 Views :: Taxes

December 31, 2015 not only marked the end of the top Hawaii individual income tax rates, but also of some fuel tax provisions....

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Sunday, April 3, 2016
Low Real Property Tax Is a Bad Thing?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3888 Views :: Taxes

One of the more interesting bills still alive and being considered this session, is one that would commission a study on the effects of Hawaii’s low real property taxes....

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Sunday, March 27, 2016
Can Illegal TVRs be Taxed?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3348 Views

...it seems a bit much to ask the brokers to be policemen for the counties ....

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Thursday, March 24, 2016
Lawsuit Dismissed: State’s 10% Rail Tax Skim Stands
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:17 PM :: 5315 Views :: Rail, Taxes

"Judge Nacino’s ruling doesn’t say that no problem exists, but just says that his court isn’t the one that can fix it”

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Sunday, March 20, 2016
Could You Please Pick Up That Pencil?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3648 Views :: Taxes

...the Department of Taxation and its customer service, or lack thereof....

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Sunday, March 13, 2016
Regressivity
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4532 Views :: Taxes

...the lowest 20% of our population pays 13.4% of its income in state and local taxes, while the top 1% pays 7.0%....

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Sunday, March 6, 2016
Tax Conformity: Can We Make It Move?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 3865 Views :: Taxes

In this context, conformity means similarity to the federal tax code....

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Sunday, February 28, 2016
Notice Overkill?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4346 Views :: Taxes

...This repetitive idiocy can cost lots of taxpayer money very quickly....

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Sunday, February 21, 2016
General Excise Tax at 6%?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4824 Views :: Taxes

Our Legislature is in full swing now and is actively considering a number of bills that will increase our cost of living in Hawaii....

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Sunday, February 14, 2016
Solving the Online Tax Dodge with Cookies?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5070 Views :: Small Business, Taxes

Every year, lawmakers seeking to fund their favorite programs or services inevitably ask themselves....

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Sunday, February 7, 2016
GEMS to Cool Classrooms?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 6952 Views :: Education K-12, Energy, Taxes

Apparently GEMS is an attractive target for raiding because a 2014 bond issue raised $150 million for the program and little, if any, capital has been deployed to date....

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Sunday, January 31, 2016
Gambling on a Hawaiian Tribe
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 9397 Views :: Akaka Bill, DHHL, Gambling, OHA

...allowing a lottery in Hawaii could open the door to other things....

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Sunday, January 24, 2016
Tax Is for the Birds
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 3986 Views :: Taxes

...he released seven chickens in the revenue office lobby....

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Sunday, January 17, 2016
Buy America! For an extra $3M – this time
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4176 Views :: Rail

The low bidder for the Kamehameha Highway Stations Group appeared to be Watts Constructors, which bid $112.7 million for the project. The job went to Nan Inc., which bid $115.8 million. Why did that happen?....

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Sunday, January 10, 2016
Unfriendly Skies?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4192 Views :: Taxes

Serious students of history may wonder what is going on. There is, after all, a federal law that prevents Hawaii taxes from touching an airline’s gross income....

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Sunday, January 3, 2016
Permanent Internet Tax Freedom
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 3960 Views :: Taxes

Hawaii was one of fifteen states that were grandfathered....

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Sunday, December 27, 2015
Delays Upon Delays at DHHL
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5047 Views :: DHHL

DHHL was listed as having $55 million in federal housing funds awarded for Native Hawaiians but unspent, resulting in HUD suspending additional funding....

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Sunday, December 20, 2015
GEMS: Gets Everyone’s Money Swiftly
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 7163 Views :: Energy, Tax Credits, Taxes

...our government has forced our utilities to jack up our electric bills to pay for this financing program that, to date, has not been able to underwrite a single kilowatt....

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Sunday, December 13, 2015
An Early Christmas Present from IRS to Heald Students
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4789 Views :: Higher Education, Taxes

Students often owed $40,000 or more in college loans – holding a degree they claimed was inadequate at best....

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Sunday, December 6, 2015
Please! Spend More!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4062 Views :: Hawaii State Government

...Uncle Sam is giving us money. But we are not spending that money so the federal agencies are saying, “Looks like you don’t need this, so why should we give you any more?”....

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Sunday, November 29, 2015
Rail: Thumbing Our Nose at the Feds
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5215 Views :: Rail, Taxes

...the Honolulu City Council is considering an ordinance to extend the rail tax....

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Sunday, November 22, 2015
Year-End Tax Planning Tips
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4175 Views :: Taxes

The top rates of 9%, 10%, and 11% go away at the end of 2015. The top rate effective as of the beginning of next year is 8.25%....

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Sunday, November 15, 2015
Working on the Fringe
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5089 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
“Revisiting the Taxation of Fringe Benefits”
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Sunday, November 8, 2015
The Shaky Future of Bonus Depreciation
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5375 Views :: Small Business, Taxes

“50% bonus depreciation” is a system where half of the equipment cost can be deducted in the first year it is placed in service....

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Sunday, November 1, 2015
Wonder Blunder Times 3.5
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 3901 Views :: Higher Education

Gib Arnold, former basketball coach at the University of Hawaii, just hit the jackpot....

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Sunday, October 25, 2015
Ten Million Words and Counting
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3888 Views :: Taxes

...today, the federal tax code is roughly six times as long as it was in 1955, while federal tax regulations are about 2.5 times as long....

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Sunday, October 18, 2015
Taxpayers Also on the Hook for VW Diesel Dupe
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5491 Views :: Environment, Tax Credits

...the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended an existing green vehicle tax credit to the new breed of diesels....

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Sunday, October 11, 2015
Taking a Homeowner’s Exemption for a Home You Can’t Live In
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3963 Views :: Taxes

On April 13 this year, Bill 36 was introduced in the Honolulu City Council....

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Sunday, October 4, 2015
Ways to Own a Utility
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4441 Views :: Energy

...politicians have thrown out alternative ownership models for the transaction....

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Sunday, September 27, 2015
Captive Insurance: The Clean Version
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5142 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes

...the IRS has added a new item to its “Dirty Dozen,” a list of tax scams....

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Sunday, September 20, 2015
Can We Save the EITC by Making the Form Tougher?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4072 Views :: Tax Credits

...an "error rate," meaning payouts to people not legally entitled to them, in excess of 20% for the last ten years....

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Sunday, September 13, 2015
Tax Credits: Heads They Win, Tails You Lose
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3923 Views :: Tax Credits

...weeping, gnashing of teeth, and litigation....

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Sunday, September 6, 2015
What Should We Be Asking of the HECO Merger?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4702 Views :: Energy

...let’s look at the tax-related conditions that are being proposed....

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Sunday, August 30, 2015
Taxing Digital Goods
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4397 Views :: Taxes

...taxing authorities have had to undergo serious mental gymnastics to characterize digital products such as streaming video in a way that can be dealt with by their tax regime....

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Sunday, August 23, 2015
IRS, Could You Please Answer the Phone?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4869 Views :: Taxes

...the Hawaii Department of Taxation was able to answer less than half of the phone calls it received....

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Sunday, August 16, 2015
Penny for Your Thoughts? No? How About 50 Million Then?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5686 Views :: Environment, Tax Credits
Is that how we steward taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars?
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Sunday, August 9, 2015
Relativity Media: E + mc = 0
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4858 Views :: Tax Credits

You may remember Relativity Media from its efforts at the Hawaii Legislature in 2011 and 2012....

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Sunday, August 2, 2015
You Can Have That Road, Alphonse…No! You Take It, Gaston!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5669 Views :: Hawaii History, Hawaii State Government

...the State and counties aren’t clear on which roads they own....

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Sunday, July 26, 2015
Who’s the Boss, Anyway? (Part 2)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4504 Views :: Taxes
...voters had limited the power of its legislature to enact taxing and spending bills, and some legislators sued....
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Sunday, July 19, 2015
Post-Employment Benefits Are King
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5221 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Labor
The Hawaii Constitution says, “Membership in any employees' retirement system of the State or any political subdivision thereof shall be a contractual relationship, the accrued benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
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Sunday, July 12, 2015
Clean Energy Equals $418M Tax Hike?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 7901 Views :: Energy, Tax Credits, Taxes
Our government is supposed to be studying how to produce clean energy, not how to milk the public!
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Sunday, July 5, 2015
And the Lowsman Trophy Goes To…Hawaii!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4624 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Taxes

Fortunately, our lawmakers are allowing the three top rates to die a natural death at the end of this year with our highest marginal rate a more modest 8.25%....

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Sunday, June 28, 2015
Independence Means Freedom from Special Funds
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4705 Views :: Taxes

Special funds are pots of money....

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Sunday, June 21, 2015
Friends Don’t Let Friends Pay Higher Taxes?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3817 Views :: Taxes

...we don’t want to inflict a disproportionate amount of pain on our friends....

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Sunday, June 14, 2015
Where’s the Tax Stamp on that Eggplant?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6672 Views :: Agriculture, Health Care, Taxes

...many common vegetables contain nicotine....

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Sunday, June 7, 2015
Whither the Resort Fee?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6181 Views :: Taxes, Tourism

By adding a resort fee of $25 to a room rate of $125, the hotel brings in $150 per night but it can advertise a $125 room rate....

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Sunday, May 31, 2015
Could You Please Answer the Phone?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4911 Views :: Tax Credits

...if you are a taxpayer with questions and you call the Hawaii Department of Taxation’s customer service line, there is a more than 50% chance that your call won’t be answered. At all....

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Sunday, May 24, 2015
Unfunded Liabilities – Smoke and Mirrors?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6297 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Labor, Taxes

...what actually goes into this “unfunded liability” calculation....

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Sunday, May 17, 2015
We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5828 Views :: National News, Taxes

...three big issues that are holding us back in international competitiveness....

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Sunday, May 10, 2015
Whose Tax Is It, Anyway? (Part 2)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5027 Views :: Small Business, Taxes

A double standard on an important issue like this is a great way to breed derision and distrust of government....

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