Taxes

As of the end of Fiscal Year 2016 Hawaii’s Pipeline balance is $548 million....

In total, Governor Ige increased spending by $1.8 billion since he took office....

Excessive taxes and fees, especially regressive per-line taxes, impose a disproportionate burden on low-income consumers....

An average family of five would have to pay more than $1,000 per year just to complete rail....

"...Our numbers come from the DOT submittals to the federal government for the HI state-owned road system, so if they are ‘wrong’ then the DOT needs to say why they submitted them ‘wrong’...."

...a $4 million federal grant to come up with a “reimagining” of the taxes we currently pay....

Despite that heavy spending, Hawaii’s roads are the worst in the U.S. for urban pavement conditions ....

I have good news. Hawaii improved its position in the Index, moving up from 30th to 26th overall....

The expiration of temporary tax increases in Hawaii resulted in the elimination of the top three individual income tax brackets and the lowering of the top marginal rate from 11 to 8.25 percent....

...Apple owed Ireland 13 billion euros....

On September 21, the U.S. House passed H.R. 2315 by voice vote. It now goes to the Senate....

Recently, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) revealed that it is considering a mileage-based user fee....

In Hawaii, we have a beast called a Taxation Board of Review that is quickly following the dodo bird down the path to extinction....

...highest ever bond ratings and the strongest credit position the state has ever achieved in its history....

...In 2015, use of e-cigarettes may have resulted in an additional 18,000 long-term ex-smokers in England....

It seems that 15%-20% of our surcharge is being paid by “tourists” in the strict sense, but when you include military families and the federal government you do come up with a percentage closer to a third....

...retailers could gain an estimated $442 million in annual revenue from the sale of paper bags and reusable bags....

Divide $200 million by 1 million people, and you get $200 a year per person....

..."the cumulative effect for the economy from having our regulatory leviathan" is $1.8 trillion per year....

...Liu submitted false invoices to be paid from the state after being awarded a state contract to start a certified redemption center....

...FTA is reconsidering its recovery plan due date (to allow this to stretch into the Legislative session so Caldwell can use it to push a GE Tax hike)....

“Our goal is to design a system for highways funding"

Our review of states’ fiscal health reveals crippling deficits and pension liabilities that could lead to future tax hikes, service cuts or both....

...it is very tempting when lawmakers find a large cache of unused money....

...it’s daunting to add up the numbers that are being bandied about....

Hawaii lawmakers will likely attempt to raise taxes next year to pay for new record spending levels....

...expected to be in the millions of dollars....

The special treatment applies only to subcontractors....

...the combined federal, state, and local rate paid by the taxpayer on capital gains income....

...a tax bill that tries to reverse progress made toward fairness and taxpayer rights....

...roughly $44 million less than projected....

Now that the rail project is facing a short fall of at least $1.5 billion, using Caldwell's own math, it means the mayor needs to increase real property tax rates by at least 50% to 65% ....

Some of the most common excise taxes include gas taxes, cigarette taxes, and taxes on the purchase of beer, wine, and liquor....

...the Code doesn’t require an earmarked tax before an agency can commit....

The sales taxes in Hawaii and South Dakota have bases that include many services and so are not strictly comparable to other sales taxes....

“There are ... concerns about the legality of 2015’s Act 204.... It is our hope that Governor Ige will allow HB 1850 to become law...."

...the Department has been raking in the retail rate GET from both the charities and the catering providers....

Hawaii has the lowest effective rate at 0.28 percent....

Someone needs to take remedial action before the thermonuclear bomb hits....

The share of infrastructure expenditures funded by tolls, user fees, and user taxes ranges from 14.3 percent in Alaska to 79.8 percent in Hawaii....

...making the shipping more expensive and thereby directly adding to the cost of living....

... California's wine tax is only $0.20 ....

Compared to taxes on alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer, distilled spirits are taxed at much higher rates....

For a short while earlier this year, it looked as though the $144 million in the state’s bond-financed Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) account might actually get used....

A U.S. Supreme Court case decided in April shows us the extent to which some tax agencies will go in order to enforce their laws....

...In addition to the federal estate tax of 40 percent....

Every day, ten men go out for dinner....

This paper examines Hawaii’s recent effort at developing a model to allocate the state’s transient accommodation tax....

...two studies that serve as guides for legislators, the media, and the public as to the state of marijuana taxation today and the implications of taxing marijuana in the future....

Illinois has the nation’s highest median property tax rate at 2.67 percent, according to new data from CoreLogic, while Hawaii has the lowest median property tax rate at 0.31 percent....