Taxes

Today’s map looks at state tax collections per capita....

...when a child is born in Hawaii, he or she can count on $26,500 in debt that the state owes per citizen....

The US came in 32nd out of 34 OECD countries, topping only Italy and France....

The President urged the lawmakers to adopt his domestic economic agenda at the state level because he doesn’t expect Congress to take much action for the remainder of his presidency....

including Travelocity.Com, LLP, Expedia, Inc., Orbitz, LLC, and Priceline.Com, LLP....

...the IRS has added a new item to its “Dirty Dozen,” a list of tax scams....

"...come January, when the Legislature convenes, we’re going to have to address it...."

The Aloha State, one of Kiplinger's top ten least tax-friendly states, is known for its high cost of living....

The share of infrastructure expenditures funded by tolls, user fees, and user taxes ranges from 14.2 percent in Alaska to 86.4 percent in Hawaii....

Without food processors in the islands, Hawaii agriculture will always be limited....

Hawaii's tax structure is 2nd-worst in the US for labor-intensive manufacturing....

...taxing authorities have had to undergo serious mental gymnastics to characterize digital products such as streaming video in a way that can be dealt with by their tax regime....

...and this doesn't include the General Excise Tax....

...Guam refused to issue tax overpayment refunds "often for several years at a time," instead using the money to fund the government....

Excepting heavily incentivized research and development (R&D) operations, mature firms generally experience above-average tax costs in Hawaii....

...the Hawaii Department of Taxation was able to answer less than half of the phone calls it received....

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

...the only honest answer is "as much as it takes."....

Hotel occupancy taxes also appear to eat into the budget tourists set for their vacation trips. Such an effect was empirically observed in Hawaii in 2013....

...the state’s redemption rate decreased from 72.6 percent in fiscal year 2014 to 68.4 percent in the last fiscal year, which ended in June 2015....

Hawaii 45.1 cents per gallon, plus federal 18.4 excise tax, plus GE Tax....

...fuel taxes are "highly regressive," meaning that they hurt the poor the most....

The excise tax is an investment by the taxpayers of Hawai‘i and my job is to ensure that their hard earned money is being spent efficiently, effectively and productively....

On July 9, Governor Ige signed Senate Bill 555, which will increase the food/excise tax credit for the first time in nearly a decade....

Hawaii taxes many products multiple times and, by one estimate, ultimately taxes 99.21 percent of the state's personal income....

Today’s map shows how spirit excise taxes in your state compare....

Fortunately, our lawmakers are allowing the three top rates to die a natural death at the end of this year with our highest marginal rate a more modest 8.25%....

...Senate Minority Budget Director Paul Harleman about the current economic status of Hawaii and his concerns for the state's future financial stability....

Ige has informed the Hawai‘i State Legislature of his intent to veto the following bills....

Special funds are pots of money....

Check out today’s map below to see where your state lies on the wine tax spectrum....

...we don’t want to inflict a disproportionate amount of pain on our friends....

...many common vegetables contain nicotine....

...federal subsidies to wind power do not create investment out of nowhere; they simply distort the relative cost of producing wind energy, shifting investments from other sectors of the economy to wind projects....

Hawaii collects $2,088 per person....

The Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act now goes to the Senate....

Organization presents comprehensive policy platform to lower aviation taxes, promote airline competition and fix air travel infrastructure in coming FAA reauthorization....

By adding a resort fee of $25 to a room rate of $125, the hotel brings in $150 per night but it can advertise a $125 room rate....

...state and local combined individual income tax collections per person....

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy released the annual 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study, a comprehensive analysis of effective property tax rates in each state’s largest city....

...what actually goes into this “unfunded liability” calculation....

“...taxes are the single most expensive ingredient in beer, costing more than labor and raw materials combined....”

...three big issues that are holding us back in international competitiveness....

A double standard on an important issue like this is a great way to breed derision and distrust of government....

...Estate and inheritance taxes have large compliance costs, have been shown to suppress entrepreneurship, and are among the most harmful taxes to economic growth....