|
Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'
| Sunday, May 10, 2026 |
|
Tax Bills: Some Look Radically Different
By Tom Yamachika @ 12:01 AM :: 1546 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... Here are some of the more significant ones ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, May 3, 2026 |
|
Deciphering the Budget
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2897 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Taxes
|
|
... the bill is not for the faint of heart ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, April 26, 2026 |
|
What’s Dead – For Now
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 4116 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... Most of the action happens in back rooms ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, April 19, 2026 |
|
Where’s Your Second Tax Return? Part 2
By Tom Yamachika @ 1:31 PM :: 4039 Views :: Tax Credits, Taxes
|
|
... WAM adopted our redraft ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, April 12, 2026 |
|
Conveyance Tax Fright
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 4361 Views :: Taxes
|
|
“Applies a cost-of-living adjustment to conveyance tax rates.”
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, April 5, 2026 |
|
Additional Car Tax Dead for Now
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 4487 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... It might get resurrected this session if it, in Frankenstein fashion, is grafted onto another live bill ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, March 29, 2026 |
|
HB2429: Makes Your Tax Return Public Record
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 5569 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... Somebody needs to rewrite this bill or put it out of its misery ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, March 22, 2026 |
|
Legislative Halftime Report
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4409 Views :: Hawaii State Government
|
|
... Any bill that hasn’t crossed over is dead for this session ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, March 15, 2026 |
|
A Taxing Debate
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3015 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
|
|
... What will likely follow will be a bit of negotiating, most of which will occur behind closed doors ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, March 8, 2026 |
|
The Rental Car ‘Loophole’
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1855 Views :: Labor, Small Business, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
... is it really a loophole? ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, March 1, 2026 |
|
The Cruise Fee Quandary
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1310 Views :: Jones Act, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
... there are bills that would undo the TAT extension to cruise lines and, instead, impose a per-passenger charge on cruise ship docking ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, February 22, 2026 |
|
UH sitting on $429M Hoard
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1762 Views :: Higher Education, Taxes
|
|
... The University of Hawaii has a $429M special fund for tuition and fees ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, February 15, 2026 |
|
Tax Cuts: Pause versus Stop
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 979 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... House Bill 2306 and Senate Bill 3125 don’t delay the scheduled cuts by three years or five years. They propose to repeal the cuts, as in get rid of them for good....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, February 1, 2026 |
|
Tax Versus Judiciary
By Tom Yamachika @ 12:01 AM :: 757 Views :: Judiciary, Taxes
|
|
...There are two Hawaii Supreme Court cases pending that involve fights over the extent to which courts can get involved in taxation at all....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, January 25, 2026 |
|
New Year, New Variance
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 984 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Taxes
|
|
... A mortality rate of 620 per thousand is something you might get with an atomic bomb ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, January 18, 2026 |
|
Idle Agriculture Funds
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1180 Views :: Agriculture, Hawaii State Government, Taxes
|
|
... millions of dollars lying around ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, January 11, 2026 |
|
Idle DOE Funds
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1852 Views :: Education K-12
|
|
... Can we put $80 million to good use instead of just allowing it to sit idle? ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, January 4, 2026 |
|
Tax Word Find
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1040 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... a Word Find puzzle with 26 key words and phrases ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, December 28, 2025 |
|
Charitable Giving This Year?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1126 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... there is an additional complication called the Pease limit ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, December 21, 2025 |
|
Gaming This Year?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1175 Views :: Gambling, Taxes
|
|
... According to the Census Bureau, state tax revenue from sports betting nearly quadrupled in the last four years ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, December 14, 2025 |
|
More Grief Over SNAP
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1285 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Cost of Living
|
|
... information to purge allegedly fraudulent recipients ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, December 7, 2025 |
|
Making a Federal Case Out of the Green Fee
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1362 Views :: Jones Act, Judiciary, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
... the cruise lines alleged that the tax appeal system we have here is anything but plain, speedy, and efficient ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 30, 2025 |
|
SNAP Confusion…On Us
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1345 Views :: National News, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... the new guidance says that immigrants in certain categories, namely Refugees, Individuals Granted Asylum, Parolees, and Deportation Withheld are “Not Eligible” for SNAP ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 23, 2025 |
|
Pitfalls in Tax Appeals
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1091 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... People sometimes get into a disagreement with the Department of Taxation ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 16, 2025 |
|
Student Loan Forgiveness for a 'substantially illegal purpose'?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 1460 Views :: Higher Education, Cost of Living
|
|
... better watch out because there are changes coming ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 9, 2025 |
|
Eligible Charges
By Tom Yamachika @ 2:48 PM :: 1587 Views :: Health Care, Taxes
|
|
... some health insurance programs don’t cover general excise tax that we in Hawaii impose on health care charges ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 2, 2025 |
|
TATmas Tree
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1639 Views :: DHHL, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
... Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is proposing Legislators again hike the Transient Accommodations Tax ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, October 26, 2025 |
|
Spend That Money, Vought Is Watching
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2123 Views :: DHHL
|
|
... DHHL's carryover balances, and these high annual re-appropriations that they have, kind of made it low-hanging fruit for the Trump Administration ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, October 19, 2025 |
|
Even More TANF Hoarding
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1739 Views :: Family, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... federal TANF money that we haven’t spent: $452 million ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, October 12, 2025 |
|
DoTax Employees Rebelling Against the Culture of Silence
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2764 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Taxes
|
|
... with a very public step being taken, it will be impossible to simply sweep the matter under the rug ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, October 5, 2025 |
|
Nonresident Withholding, Six Years Later
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2328 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... the legislation was enacted in 2019, six years ago. At the time, the Department issued an announcement saying that it wasn’t ready to implement the requirement yet, so taxpayers could relax ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, September 28, 2025 |
|
The Deduction for State and Local Tax
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1884 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... the push and pull that the federal tax system inflicts on state and local tax systems ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, September 21, 2025 |
|
Your Money Stays in Vegas — Then the IRS Wants Some
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2968 Views :: Gambling, Taxes
|
|
... Trump tax act: new rules on gambling losses ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, September 14, 2025 |
|
Charitable Giving Under 'Big Beautiful Bill'
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 4369 Views :: Taxes
|
|
"...a significant boost to the standard deduction...."
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, September 7, 2025 |
|
DoTax Suddenly Begins Collecting GE Tax on Tips
By Tom Yamachika @ 2:42 PM :: 6696 Views :: Small Business, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
... This seems to me to be a departure from past practice ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, August 31, 2025 |
|
No Tax on Tips
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 6044 Views :: Labor, Taxes, Tourism
|
|
An individual who receives tips can exclude up to $25,000 of those tips from his or her gross income....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, August 24, 2025 |
|
Classroom Heat
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 6198 Views :: Education K-12, Energy, Ethics
|
|
... ten years ago Governor Ige kicked off an effort to get air conditioners into public school classrooms ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, August 17, 2025 |
|
No Tax on Overtime
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 5495 Views :: Labor, Small Business, Taxes
|
|
... this is critical information for employers too ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, August 10, 2025 |
|
Encumbrance for the Stadium
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 5107 Views :: Ethics, Development, Hawaii State Government, Higher Education, Tourism
|
|
... Act 88 of 2021, which Act 248 amended, stated that the appropriations in the biennium budget would lapse on June 30, 2024 ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, August 3, 2025 |
|
Constitutional Expenditure Controls
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3109 Views :: Hawaii History, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... over the last fifty years, our lawmakers have tended to regard those provisions as bothersome annoyances, to be worked around or avoided ...
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, July 27, 2025 |
|
Pay for No Work
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 5250 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Hawaii Statistics, Labor
|
|
... $6.3M salary for 'administrative leave' ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, July 20, 2025 |
|
Nonprofit Blankety Blank
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3190 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... $50 million in the hands of a four-person committee ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, July 13, 2025 |
|
SNAP Cliffs Are Coming
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3642 Views :: Family, Hawaii State Government, Cost of Living, COVID-19
|
|
... the USDA whacked our state with an $11 million fine for its huge error rate two years in a row ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Monday, July 7, 2025 |
|
Building New Schools
By Tom Yamachika @ 2:27 PM :: 2916 Views :: Education K-12, Development, Taxes
|
|
... the fees have been collected but have not been used, and for a very long time ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Monday, June 30, 2025 |
|
Lawsuit Challenges “Dam Special Fund” Used to Undermine Constitutional Expenditure Controls
By Tom Yamachika @ 3:57 PM :: 2987 Views :: Ethics, Agriculture, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... The lawsuit alleges that the Special Fund was intended to be, and is, used to circumvent expenditure controls that are in the Hawaii Constitution for the protection of taxpayers ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, June 29, 2025 |
|
Twenty Years of Nickels
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3699 Views :: Environment, Small Business, Taxes
|
|
... the fund has swollen to over $50 million ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, June 22, 2025 |
|
Dam Special Fund
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 3149 Views :: Ethics, Agriculture, Land Use
|
|
... Our state budget already is in chaos, and adding more workarounds and sleight of hand will not make things better! ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, June 15, 2025 |
|
Intent to Veto
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 1808 Views :: Taxes
|
|
... two tax bills are on the list ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, June 8, 2025 |
|
The Unseen Stopper Committees
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:00 AM :: 2529 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government
|
|
... money chairs’ macabre tradition ....
|
| Read
More.. |
|
|
|
|
|