Taxes

... Honolulu, with its 10.25 percent tax rate and an average tourism tax of $51.70 per night, came out on top ....

... many of the usual losers are back, mainly the proposals to increase taxes or impose new so-called fees ....

... highlights and low lights on some of the shenanigans ....

... Few ideas are as tenacious as the myth that we can make tourists pay for major programs without affecting locals ....

... Federal Court Ruling: Sen. Karl Rhoads participated in Honolulu County Council Kickback scheme ....

... the governor’s state income tax cut — approved unanimously last year by the Legislature — will reduce our taxes by as much as 71% for some families ....

... Tax season is just around the corner, and there’s a good chance that many of the people reading this will be paying someone else to help file their taxes online ....

... This bill was the culmination of years of efforts from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, whose work on HB 2404 got them the “biggest win for freedom” award from the State Policy Network ....

... employees should already be seeing a bump in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts ....

... Hawaii lawmakers might undermine some of the benefits of the tax cut by raising taxes elsewhere, “just kind of surreptitiously” ....

... You might have noticed something a little different about your most recent paycheck ....

... document that directed staff at the Department of Taxation to use the negligence penalty, a penalty of 25% of the tax due, against taxpayers who receive requests for documents from a tax auditor ....

... a modest but workable list of policy resolutions for 2025 ....

... Hawaii lost 0.65% of its population to other states in FY2024 ....

... Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! ....

... The Aloha State is finally facing the problem ....

... $29 million lying around doing nothing ....

... Deferred doesn’t mean dead ....

... The Honolulu City Council shelved Bill 46 while also approving bills that will actually be effective at facilitating more housing ....

... a few requests for the people of Hawaii ....

... The Department of Taxation Requires Employers Decrease Withholding Amounts Beginning January 1, 2025 ....

... Hawaii will significantly modify its individual income tax brackets ....

... complex, nonneutral taxes with comparatively high rates ....

“What’s the biggest break that today’s tax code gives us?”

... the credit for this win goes to you, the people who got involved and made their voices heard ....

... after over 5-hours public testimony of which the majority opposed Bill 46 ....

“...I like to think Hawaii helped kick off this national turnaround with passage of House Bill 2404, a historic tax reduction bill that Gov. Josh Green signed into law June 3....”

... With the income tax reform and the increase in the supply of affordable housing, we expect that living in Hawaii will be more affordable and our state’s outmigration will be mitigated ....

... the (US) Supreme Court has held that the government cannot “compel a landowner over objection to rent his property” without violating the Takings Clause ....

... The Honolulu City Council is considering Bill 46, which would create a tax on all so-called empty homes ....

... the third time won’t be the charm ....

... This year, 2024, is the first report card for the Green administration ....

... Hawaii’s lawmakers listened to the people and did the most effective thing they could to significantly lower our incredibly high cost of living ....

... Department of Taxation computers don't necessarily tell you when they change some of the information that’s been input ....

... County regulatory reform bills on the move ....

... the key to resolving Hawaii’s housing crisis -- build more homes ....

... this proposed empty homes tax would leave it to the Honolulu Department of Budget and Fiscal Services to determine whether a property was truly vacant ....

... Green is the highest-scoring Democrat in this study ....

... Hawaii had a Taxpayer Burden of $16,500, earning it a “D” grade ....

... Bill 46 aims to impose a 3% tax on so-called empty homes across Oahu ....

... Bill 46 (2024) is the current version moving forward in the Council. ...

“... In general, it was a terrific year at the legislature, and I never say that ....”

... the discussion there is almost entirely focused on taxes ....

... The second most-read article is “Why we left Hawaii” ....

... the largest personal income tax cut in state history ....

... employees at our State, and the Department of Taxation in particular, have a lot of immunity too ....

... the purpose is to reverse Hawaii's historic income tax cuts ....

... 4,700 positions currently unfilled, including more than 100 that have been vacant for over four years ....

... Notably, four of the top five states Hawaii residents moved to—Texas, Washington, Nevada, and Florida—forgo individual income taxes on wage income ....

... I expect the Department’s bill to resurface in the 2025 legislative session ....