Taxes

...property taxes as a share of home values ranging from 0.2 percent (Maui County, Hawaii) to 3.1 percent (Wayne County, New York)....

This is only the beginning—watch how two of these taxes get worse in the years to come....

This tax structure is not surprising given Hawaii’s reliance on tourism as its primary economic driver....

... and two tax hikes for 2014 ....

The report for November pegs growth in TAT revenues at a positive 9.0% while the collections of the general excise tax are down by 3.4%....

... another legislative session looms large on the horizon ....

Our state’s lower-income families are faced with almost insurmountable structural challenges to escaping poverty....

Now that everyone is aware that the tax increases of the last few years have allowed state government to accumulate nearly a billion dollars in surplus funds, it is time for policymakers to think about insuring that Hawaii is ready for the next downturn....

Travelers are currently charged $2.50 per flight under the Transportation Security Administration’s airline security “fee.” Under the budget deal, that would increase to $5.60 per flight or $11.20 for a round-trip ticket....

Consumers choose plastic bags far more often than paper or reusable bags to carry their purchases.... 

For years, local leaders, both within government and the business community, depended on the umbilical cord to federal funds secured by Hawaii’s Congressional delegation....

Christmas trees are pretty unpopular, right?  The House must think so, since its farm bill would pave the way to set up a Christmas Tree Promotion Board....

The law is a complicated one, made so in an effort to get around the Supreme Court’s past rulings that states could not require sales tax collection by a company if that company is not physically present in the state....

...members of the budget conference committee are considering several options that could increase spending by up to an additional $100 billion....

...how is the new health care initiative going to affect businesses?

One of the idiosyncrasies of the real property tax is an action taken by a county or City council called compromises....

The state Department of Taxation paid CGI Group more than $87 million over 12 years....

...Education works: Who needs a Beverage Tax?....

Whew, we dodged the bullet, sighed many beneficiaries of the federal largesse....

Twenty-five people in the state Department of Taxation were put on leave in December 2011 for unauthorized access to tax records....

...over the past three fiscal years, the program has paid out $28 million more in handling fees than it has collected in container fees....

...legislative leaders have been taking a dog and pony show on the road to try and convince county officials to give up their revenue sharing of the transient accommodations tax....

...our picks for the 10 most tax-friendly and the 10 least tax-friendly states in the U.S....

This Halloween, the Chicago-based government watchdog group, Truth in Accounting, issued what its authors call a “haunting” report....

... raised taxes 13 times in 2013 ....

More than a decade ago, lawmakers and tax department officials finally realized that it is possible to purchase services for resale....

...marriage-related church functions, until now regarded as non-profit, will be considered a ‘for-profit’ activity....

• DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 2013
• TIME: 10:00 a.m.
• PLACE: Conference Room 211, State Capitol

The shut down of the federal government pivots on which side will blink first....

The audit objective was to evaluate the RPAD processes related to the classification, reclassification, valuation, and assessment of real property for taxation purposes....

Last week’s partial shutdown of the federal government broke records on the airwaves of twitter and other social media with much of the criticism....

Do you feel rich? The Wall Street Journal claims you are, as a fiscal watchdog group says the opposite, citing crushing amounts of government debt....

...thanks to a Christmas Tree Clause in 13-33, developers and wealthy individuals with 10 acres or more have been given an easy out for upzoned properties....

Apparently when one is an elected official, one has to make sure that their concerns reflect the concerns of their constituency and obviously the concerns of seniors is right up there at the top of the list....

...listen to Dr. Akina further discuss the problem on HPR’s “The Conversation”....

She was angered when she got an inquiry from the IRS in 2012 demanding she provide detailed information on Honolulu tea party activities, materials, pictures, videos, names of speakers and attendees, as well as copies and recordings of speeches made during events....

...unlike other states that have a retail sales tax structure, Hawaii’s general excise tax focuses on the gross income received by a business....

The Congressional Budget Office just dropped a budget update on Washington, and it’s not good. The U.S. government is spending recklessly—and Obamacare is adding fuel to the fire....

there is a glaring paradox as observers decry the shortage of affordable housing ... while at the same time prevent the development of additional affordable housing....

...the IRS announced that any same-sex couple who married in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage can file a joint federal tax return, even if the state where they currently live does not recognize same-sex marriage....

For more than 35 years the state has adhered to a policy of conforming with the federal income tax code....

... Tito Montes discussing the desperate need for welfare reform in Hawaii ....

On paper it may appear Hawaii has a "low sales tax," but that is not the case....

... Hawaii is present in the top ten of both lists, showing large unfunded liabilities compared to their populations and economic output ....

Hawaii has the broadest sales tax in the United States, taxing many products multiple times and, by one estimate, ultimately taxing 99.21% of the state's personal income. This base is far wider than the national median, where the sales tax base applies to 34.46%....