Taxes

“50% bonus depreciation” is a system where half of the equipment cost can be deducted in the first year it is placed in service....

A panel discussion on the barriers to economic prosperity for businesses in Hawaii....

...homeowners of flex units face the challenge of having their entire property classified as 'Commercial', which equates to approximately 254% more in taxes....

State Department of Taxation officials have pointed to a lag in processing tax returns as a key reason for the swings....

...today, the federal tax code is roughly six times as long as it was in 1955, while federal tax regulations are about 2.5 times as long....

Hawaii has grabbed tens of millions of dollars from Honolulu County taxpayers and diverted it to the general fund, rather than using it for a mass transit rail project as intended....

Hawaii ranks 44th at $58 per person ....

Sylvia Luke wants it as a slush fund to purchase Ali’i Place. Ernie Martin wants it to build affordable housing....

...the average property tax deduction taken on the Schedule A, per tax return, for each county....

On April 13 this year, Bill 36 was introduced in the Honolulu City Council....

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....