Taxes

...the PUC has basically said that it expects the program to crash and burn....

...look for the following bills to be revived in the 2018 legislative session....

...This ‘consensus’ of disbelief is proven by the massive investment in sea-level construction of Kakaako condos and Honolulu Rail.... 

...Recently, the Hawaii Tax Review Commission’s primary consultant, PFM Group, issued a final report to the Commission asking it to review many taxing alternatives, including a $360M per year “carbon tax” on Hawaii consumers....

...this could make Hawaii and other high-tax states less competitive for their wealthiest earners, since those residents will be less able to deduct the high local taxes....

...This week, an actress did something almost unheard of. She apologized for spreading misinformation about the new tax law....

...State tax law changes impacting businesses and individuals....

...the new tax plan will impact Hawai‘i by adding 1,518 new jobs and predicts a $793 after-tax income increase for middle-income families....

...Hokama also asked Thom Williams, executive director of the ERS, if the debt would still be owed if the county went bankrupt....

...Hawaii’s entrenched state and county bureaucracies delaying the advance of high technology into their own operations....

...To help provide a sense of how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would impact real taxpayers, we’ve run the taxes of eight example households....

...$4,540 a year in tax revenue per resident....

...This will give Warren Buffett et al a chance to “walk the walk” and pay millions more....

...Takayama has served as the director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) since April 2015. She will assume her new position on Monday, Dec. 11....

...the Tax Administration Special Fund is becoming an all-purpose slush fund for which corrective action is needed....

Should they re-evaluate their tax filings now that the Department’s litigation position is out in the public for all to see?

...This report evaluates twelve publicly released agreements that Airbnb has entered with state or local governments....

...The Department apparently regards the taxpayers here as lower life forms and wants to give them no respect.... 

There’s a lot of news out there about the tax bills before the Congress, and nearly all of it is confusing....

...Review of Special Funds, Revolving Funds, Trust Funds, and Trust Accounts of the Department of Taxation....

...The increase in family incomes is the result of both the income tax cuts and the broader rise in productivity and wages due to economic growth....

“I object to the use of the word ‘customer.’ It certainly doesn’t feel like that type of relationship to me. Maybe ‘hostage’?”

Halloween may be over, but we still have lots of scary stories!

...repeals the state and local tax deduction for income and sales taxes and caps the SALT deduction for property taxes at $10,000. The home mortgage interest is grandfathered in and preserved for new homes up to $500,000....

Hawaii’s tax and public pension systems will be put under the microscope at a series of three free panel discussions hosted by Hawaii Rep. Andria Tupola, on Thursday, Nov. 2....

...Hawaii dropped from 11th for 2017 to 14th for 2018....

...In Proposed Settlement, IRS Admits Wrongdoing, Apologizes for Targeting Tea Party and Conservative Groups....

...Did DOTAX Turn the Corner on Customer Service?....

...Hawaii has enough in cash reserves to weather next recession, report says....

...The State Business Tax Climate Index is a measure of how well states structure their tax systems....

...with speakers from the Reason Foundation, Tax Foundation, and Pew Charitable Trusts to inform the public on ways we can solve many of our fiscal problems and make our economy better....

...During the past few months, the Tax Review Commission has been busy at work....

...and this is before the legislature raised the TAT and increased the Income Tax.... 

...Hawaii has the 8th highest amount of taxation per capita in the USA....

...those who buy things from Amazon and have been paying Use Tax can stop....

Over the past several months, there has been a court fight brewing that could have changed how the Department of Taxation lobbies for legislation....

...Excise taxes are particular taxes levied on specific goods or activities....

The hearings will be held at the following times and locations....

...Hawaii counties collect an average of $980 in property tax per capita....

...$27,100 = Each taxpayer's share of Hawaii's debt....

"...Doing nothing is unacceptable...." -- Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Sept 18, 2017

...Hawaii and North Dakota collect the most in statewide sales tax per capita at $2,090 and $1,835 respectively....

...The special session rail bill, SB 4, provides that if the Foundation wins and the State is ordered to refund money to the City, then the State will scoop the same amount of money from the City’s share of transient accommodations tax....

...in FY 2015, the corporate income tax only comprised 5.3 percent of state tax collections....

Confucius said to the ruler: So long as when you get richer, the poor get richer....

......Our floor amendment to exclude neighbor islands from the 1% TAT increase received support from four other neighbor island Representatives....

...Ige’s signing of the rail funding bill also allows the Honolulu City Council to approve Bill 45, which extends O‘ahu’s half-percent surcharge to the state general excise tax another three years....

...The TAT, when it was enacted in 1986, was primarily meant to fund the Hawaii Convention Center....

...Senators highlighted in YELLOW are up for reelection in 2018.  Only four of them voted for the tax hike....

...FTA is complicit.  That’s why it is likely to approve a Plan B that stops at Middle Street....