Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'

The top rates of 9%, 10%, and 11% go away at the end of 2015. The top rate effective as of the beginning of next year is 8.25%....

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

Gib Arnold, former basketball coach at the University of Hawaii, just hit the jackpot....

...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....

...the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended an existing green vehicle tax credit to the new breed of diesels....

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

...politicians have thrown out alternative ownership models for the transaction....

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

...an "error rate," meaning payouts to people not legally entitled to them, in excess of 20% for the last ten years....

...weeping, gnashing of teeth, and litigation....

...let’s look at the tax-related conditions that are being proposed....

...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....

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

You may remember Relativity Media from its efforts at the Hawaii Legislature in 2011 and 2012....

...the State and counties aren’t clear on which roads they own....

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%....

Special funds are pots of money....

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

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

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....

...if you are a taxpayer with questions and you call the Hawaii Department of Taxation’s customer service line, there is a more than 50% chance that your call won’t be answered. At all....

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

...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....

A few days ago, the United States Tax Court decided a case that is important to small business owners....

HB145 has quite a history. It started as a bill to limit the tobacco tax on large cigars to 50 cents per cigar....

...we are getting closer to a resolution on the two bills that are seeking to extend the life of the 0.5% Oahu county surcharge on our general excise tax....

...They were under the impression that the bond sale process needed to begin by June 30 of this year. “No,” said the Department of Attorney General, “the law says that the bond sale needs to be DONE by June 30.”...

...the State used to administer the property tax back in the dark ages until the 1978 Constitutional Convention....

...if HB1471 passes we are looking at a total tax of $53.2 million, which is an increase of about 25%....

... hundreds of little (and in some cases, not so little) pots of money sprinkled throughout Hawaii's departments, agencies, and other governmental units ....

In Hawaii a number of us are fascinated with gambling....

The Legislature is considering several bills that would add increases or surcharges to the Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET)....

...we are exporting around 15%-20% of our general excise tax....

Sales taxes in most states leave rent alone, but our General Excise Tax (GET) taxes it....

...HB1307, introduced by Rep Kaniela Ing, raises income taxes on middle class families by 12%....

All state income tax systems in the United States, including ours, have a set of rules that are used to figure out which state has the primary right to tax income....

...the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has released a report. ranking the states in terms of how progressive their tax systems are....

The state has been draining money out of the rail surcharge. Lots of money....

...According to a report by the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, it lifts more families out of poverty than any other federal policy....

...In 2005, a survey asked a sample of 1,000 adult Americans what would be the most practical way for them to accumulate several hundred thousand dollars....

...“policy measures and costs impacting small business and entrepreneurship.”....

Recently he made news by publicly saying he absolutely won’t pay his U.S. taxes....

...when a Hawaii taxpayer reaches $200,000 in federal adjusted gross income, a number of bad things happen that, in total, can result in a marginal tax rate of 367,100% on that last dollar....