Taxes

...Senate Bill 1474 proposes levying a 0.5 percent surcharge on the general excise and use tax in order to provide a “dedicated funding source” for the DOE and the University of Hawaii....

...the Hawaii State Personal Income Tax vacuums up $1,481 per person....

...The auditor found that they have lots of money lying around. More than $120 million in accounts that haven’t been even touched for five years....

...New York and California killed off expensive rail projects--Hawaii can too....

...‘Perry & The Posse’ hosts Keli'i Akina on morning radio show....

...creative tax-related bills at our legislature....

...Hawaii residents paid an average of 65.32 cents per gallon in combined gas taxes in 2018....

...In fiscal year 2017, the highest state sales tax collections per capita were found in Hawaii -- $2,269....

...This way of thinking could justify government intervention in nearly all aspects of a person's life....

...Honolulu has a Taxpayer Burden of $23,000, earning it an "F" grade....

...This year, our legislature once again is poised to consider revenue raising – namely, taxes in new and creative ways....

...Hawaii's GE Tax base is more than triple the average sales tax base for US states....

...American Lung Association ‘State of Tobacco Control’ Report Finds Hawaii Must Do More to Prevent, Reduce Tobacco Use....

...How to resolve Hawaii’s public pension debt crisis....

...Recently, we have heard the term “congestion pricing” bandied about as a way of improving traffic congestion here, and of raising more money....

...Noah Fiddler's sentencing is scheduled for May 2, 2019....

...the average per-Taxpayer Burden for these 15 states runs almost $24,000—more than four times the average for the other 35 states....

...Hawaii: State and Local Taxes rake in $6,467 per capita....

...Senate President Ron Kouchi talked about how his “greatest passion was to create a Hawaii where each and every one one of our children could come home.”....

...Hawaii, a state with a sales tax base so broad that it applies to more than the state’s entire economy, taxes not just the machinery businesses use to manufacture goods, but also the raw materials used in manufacturing....

...The economic boom of the last few years allowed them to continue spending at high levels, and many of them would like to keep it that way....

...In 2005, the Legislature provided the land conservation program with a dedicated funding source – ten percent of conveyance tax collected...here's what happened next....

... Perhaps most notable are the increases in the general excise tax on Kauai and Hawaii Island ....

...DLNR needs to understand that the money in these funds isn’t “their” money. It’s taxpayer money....

...If enacted, the carbon tax would be the fifth special tax imposed on fuel....

...the question posed to voters must be clear and neither misleading nor deceptive....

...The Cato Institute has released its 14th biennial fiscal report card on the governors....

...Hawaii is spending $4.5 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is just 32.9 percent of the $13.7 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....

...We continue with our series about a timeshare association suing Maui County seeking to invalidate its “Time Share” property classification, with the county then striking back.... 

... Hawaii ranks 44th in USA ....

...We continue with our series about a timeshare association suing the county, with the county then back assessing the association for $10 million.... 

...Timeshare association sues county; county then back assesses association for $10 million.... 

...Establishes a creepy DC-based "Carbon Dividend Trust Fund" that seeks a backdoor two-child limit on families....

...Any carbon-pricing mechanism should be “adequate to change behavior.”  The commission had considered asking that it be “practical” as well, but Sen. Karl Rhoads convinced the members that was a bad idea….

...Keli'i Akina and Joe Kent discuss the latest research by the Grassroot Institute on rail, vacation rentals and the unfunded liabilty of Hawaii's public pension system....

...a long and hotly litigated property tax case from Maui....

...Businessman convicted of tax fraud has Guam, Micronesia deals....

...Hawaii has 12 brackets, the most of any state, followed by California and Missouri, each with 10....

...but income tax is up 12.4% and TAT is up 16.7%....

...For a long time, I was wondering what the authors of 07-001 were smoking....

Many Hawaii taxpayers breathed a sigh of relief after the state Supreme Court on Oct. 19 voided a ballot question that would’ve allowed the state to raise taxes....

...Hawaii has a graduated-rate income tax but doubles its brackets to avoid a marriage penalty....

...a case now pending in the Hawaii Supreme Court that may give us some insight on county real property taxes and their limits....

...a prior Hawaii Supreme Court case, Cieri v. Leticia Query Realty, 80 Haw. 54 (1995), said, “[R]eal estate is, particularly in Hawai`i, both scarce and expensive. As a result, the purchase of real estate or a residence likely is the largest ‘investment’ a person in Hawai`i may make in a lifetime.”....

...Ranking Property Taxes on the 2019 State Business Tax Climate Index....

...It’s time to open a real dialogue in our state and work together to find real and lasting solutions for education....

...The executive committee voted unanimously to continue its commitment to address issues of concern to the people of Hawaii, starting with public education....

...another provision that was passed by the 1978 Constitutional Convention to assure our fiscal health—and what our lawmakers have done to marginalize it....

...the lambs (the voters and taxpayers) didn't have much of a say as usual, and portions of the arguments revealed what these folks think about the intelligence of the average Hawaii voter....

...HSTA members should note that their leadership has been played for the fools that they are....