Taxes

...Washington State’s 20 percent rate is the highest estate tax rate in the nation, although Hawaii is set to increase its top rate to 20 percent effective January 1, 2020....

...a task force of eminent Hawaii business and other community leaders has just issued a warning that Hawaii’s current rate of government spending is not sustainable....

...The latest entry of the State of the States publication breaks down each governor’s “state of the state” address and identifies strong and weak policy prescriptions within....

...We, among many others, have long warned that if government squeezes our population too hard with taxes, regulations, and other impediments, people will vote. Not necessarily at the ballot box, but with their feet.... 

...The DOE’s inconsistent and problematic implementation of the school impact fee law calls into question the relevance and appropriateness of the fees that have been collected to date....

...the amount of state and local road spending covered by gas taxes, tolls, user fees, and user taxes varies widely among states. It ranges from only 6.9 percent in Alaska to 71 percent in Hawaii....

...Throwback rules can yield exceedingly high and often uncompetitive levels of taxation for some businesses, to the point that the outmigration they generate can more than offset any revenue gains from taxing “nowhere income.”....

...With this final installment, the department will add cigarette/tobacco, fuel and liquor taxes to the new system, completing the configurations needed to administer all Hawaiʻi taxes....

...the taxes that have changed the most dramatically in the past 30 years....

...Withholding is making someone who isn’t liable for tax, but who pays money to someone who is, responsible for collecting and paying the tax to the government.... 

...State Gasoline Tax Rates as of July 2019....

...Hawaii has the broadest sales tax in the United States, but it taxes many products multiple times....

...we are starting to see laws passed in the 2019 Legislature take effect....

... a vacant home fee of 5% or 10% ....

...Ige notified legislative leaders and key lawmakers of his Intent to Veto the following 20 measures....

...Recently, we have been getting lots of news about our economy here in the islands, and none of it has been good....

... Hawaii taxes distilled spirits at $5.98 per gallon ....

...1,100 homes were removed from the rental market in the first year of the city’s empty-homes tax....

...there is a bill before Gov. David Ige, SB 1292, which he has until June 24 to veto or sign....

...Hawaii taxes wine at $1.38/gallon, 14th highest in USA....

... Hawaii imposes $0.93 tax per gallon of beer ....

... This week, the Honolulu City Council approved an operating budget of $2.8 billion, an increase of 8.8% over last year’s budget and almost $1 million more than the amount proposed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell ....

...DOTAX justified the shroud of darkness surrounding its revenue projections with a theory, derived from federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law, called “deliberative process privilege.”....

... Hawaii derives 22.9% of tax revenue from individual income taxes .... 

...A long time ago the Tax Foundation of Hawaii sued the State....

...Kauai is looking at a budget increase of 10.7%; Honolulu, 8.6%; Maui 8.1%; and Hawaii County 12.7%....

... the GE Tax accounts for 37.2% of State revenue, Hawaii ranks 9th most dependent....

...the law’s discrimination against nonresidents was prohibited by a part of the U.S. Constitution that the deputy attorney general didn’t consider.  “Oops,” the deputy said....

...Hawaii combined pass-through business income tax rate 43.7%, second only to California....

...good news and bad news for Hawaii's taxpayers during this past legislative session....

... Hawaii: Combined State-Federal Corporate Income Tax Rate 26.1% ....

...The Hawaii Legislature approved 303 bills, among which were measures clarifying what people must do in crosswalks with countdown timers, determining who is allowed to drive “low speed electric bicycles,” and expanding the prohibition on the capturing or killing of manta rays to all rays. ...

... Department of Land and Natural Resources is doing a reforestation project in East Maui. It’s hired a vendor to certify the project for “carbon credits.” Why are they doing that if we don’t even have a carbon tax ....

...Alabama and Hawaii raise the smallest portion of their state and local tax revenue through property taxes: 17.1 percent and 17.6 percent, respectively....

...UIPA Request: DoE Refusing to Release Check Register....

...This is harsh criticism, but it is well-founded....

...Try out the “adjust performance” feature.  You can abolish the GE Tax and cut other taxes, eliminate public employees, enact a right to work law, raise or lower the minimum wage, and see how each move affects Hawaii’s economic performance....

...No, that isn’t a cuss word. It’s just the facts, ma’am....

...Hawaii Tax Freedom Day is 43rd among states....

...Multiple carbon-dioxide tax bills are under consideration in the current session of the Hawaii State Legislature....

...our legislature has a dogged focus on new taxes....

...'Sin' taxes are levied on a relatively narrow tax base, and many are regressive, with a larger share of the tax burden falling on those with lower incomes....

...A new Grassroot Institute of Hawaii report suggests ways to build a financial reserve....

...Unlike tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s circumstances, tax burden measures the proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes....

...Before the ink was dry on those judgments, the Department of Taxation produced additional assessments against the taxpayers, this time on car rental commissions....

...Hawaii lawmakers are considering a myriad of new tax increases in order to pay for their spending plans, but instead they should clamp down on their spending so tax hikes aren’t needed....

...a byzantine structure of taxes and fees, with effective tax rates on consumers often exceeding 30 percent....

...with a month to go, legislators will have plenty of time to raise your taxes....

...tax increases would affect commercial, up by 14 cents per $1,000 of valuation; industrial, up by 3 cents per thousand; hotel and resort, up by 23 cents per thousand; and short-term rental, up by 27 cents per thousand....

...contrasting state and local tax collections with the quality of the services residents receive in each of the 50 states....