Taxes

There are two factors contributing to this regional variation. The first is that higher-income taxpayers tend to take larger deductions....The second factor for county-by-county variation is that state and local tax regimes differ substantially....

...Shifting Burden to Hotels Will Hurt Tourism and Employment....

On average, 23.3% of state and local tax revenues came from sales taxes in fiscal year 2014.  For Hawaii 37.6%....

The most recent version of Rich States, Poor States has been released, and once again, Hawaii ends up on the wrong end of that title....

...the phenomenon of locals leaving Hawaii to live on the mainland has been increasing significantly in recent years....

Most families in Hawaii know that they shouldn’t spend more money than they have. But somehow, Hawaii legislators haven’t gotten the message....

The experts at Anderson Economic Group have considered 11 taxes that businesses pay in order to produce the most comprehensive business tax burden ranking to date....

The hearing will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday April 26 in Council Chambers on the eighth floor of Kalana O Maui at 200 S. High St....

IRS Ruling: Act 1 Cash Payout to HGEA members would cost ERS its nonprofit status .... 

...Caldwell introduces bill authorizing city to extend GET surcharge to pay for rail construction....

Corporate income taxes are one of the smallest sources of state and local tax revenue....

...after the Legislature finishes raising taxes, Hawaii will be back up to 50th....

Tax Freedom Day is the day when the state as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year....

The 2nd Annual Maui County Carnival, scheduled for April 6-9, 2017, has been cancelled. Skyrocketing state government fees have been blamed....

There have been a raft of studies recently isolating the effect of certain elements of the House GOP tax reform “Blueprint” on various industries and even the 50 states....

...an additional $1.2 billion funding package for the City’s financially troubled rail project....

This is the first in a four-part map series in which we will examine the primary sources of state and local tax collections....

“This shows that the city is committed to funding and completing the rail project,” said Mayor Caldwell....

Terms being bandied about include exemptions, deductions, and tax credits, and among tax credits there are the “CreditAbles” – refundable, nonrefundable, and assignable credits.....

...Total Tax Burden: 11.27% – #2 in USA....

...SB 620 would redefine how our general excise tax laws define “doing business”....

After burning $2B, the state received a pathetic $27.1 million in taxes from 150 companies tied to the High Technology Development Corporation....

Hawaii lawmakers would like us to believe that they are cutting the state budget in the current legislative session, but it’s not true....

...contrasting state and local tax collections with the quality of the services residents receive....

...this study appeared to be an outgrowth of a move by our teachers’ union....

...two bills are moving through the legislature on this subject....

...Watchdog Group Says State Budget Must be Reevaluated....

The "shall make sufficient sums available" language is used in one more place in our constitution. It's in Article XII, Section 1, relating to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands....

With tax collections falling behind expectations, State lawmakers are pressuring the tax department to increase effort to collect uncollected taxes from internet sales....

DBEDT is measuring dollars not taxpayers. One out-of-state owner of a shopping mall, golf course, or hotel equals 1000s of individual local homeowners....

It's true that the session is far from over. And this bill could certainly end up morphing yet again....

...this policy likely would backfire and make all housing in the islands more expensive....

House Bill 1586 is a multi-faceted bill that seeks to change some of the characteristics of our tax system....

... the Honolulu Star-Advertiser noted with apparent alarm the “uncommonly heavy load of tax proposals still moving through both state Capitol chambers” ....

... Hawaii Corporate Income over $100K is taxed at 6.4% ....

...the amount of the penalty could be as much as $695 x 2 adults plus $695 x ½ x 3 kids = $2,432.50....

In just this legislative session, we've seen attempts to make the surcharge a permanent part of life.... We've seen proposed income tax increases. There's even an attempt to write a tax...into the state Constitution....

...and if you earn $100K, Hawaii is 3rd-highest....

...and Legislators are pushing HB209 to make those rates even higher....

The sheer number of bills related to tax or public finance is staggering. It's much more frenetic this year than in any other year I've been in this position....

...UHERO: ‘Discriminatory’ HSTA Property Tax Plan hits Renters Hardest....

...the State is making a ton of money off the skim....

...the system knows the driver's exact route, his speed compliance and provides ratings for his braking and cornering performance. Too much info in the hands of the government....

to lobby for a constitutional amendment that will drastically increase property taxes....

The Legislature should not approve any extensions of the GET and it should pass a bill directing the city to handle current and future deficits with its own resources. This offers hope for some accountability and cost containment....

The State kept 10% of the surcharge collected or $25.92 million – which is more than the Department of Taxation’s entire Fiscal Year 2016 operating budget of $24 million....

There are 20 bills currently on the table dealing with vacation rentals....

...give everybody a pay raise--by cutting taxes....

Is a 7% return on investment sustainable into the future? Another organization that studied the issue said that a more realistic rate of return would be the “risk-free” rate, which they calculated at 2.344%....

the Department of Taxation has been allowed to keep a full 10% of the rail surcharge for the costs of administering it, despite the fact that the law directs DOTAX to calculate how much is required for its management of the surcharge, then return the remainder to the rail project....