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Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'
Sunday, November 29, 2015 |
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Rail: Thumbing Our Nose at the Feds
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5029 Views :: Rail, Taxes
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...the Honolulu City Council is considering an ordinance to extend the rail tax....
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Sunday, November 22, 2015 |
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Year-End Tax Planning Tips
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4029 Views :: Taxes
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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%....
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Sunday, November 15, 2015 |
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Working on the Fringe
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4877 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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“Revisiting the Taxation of Fringe Benefits”
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Sunday, November 8, 2015 |
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The Shaky Future of Bonus Depreciation
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5173 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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“50% bonus depreciation” is a system where half of the equipment cost can be deducted in the first year it is placed in service....
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Sunday, November 1, 2015 |
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Wonder Blunder Times 3.5
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 3750 Views :: Higher Education
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Gib Arnold, former basketball coach at the University of Hawaii, just hit the jackpot....
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Sunday, October 25, 2015 |
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Ten Million Words and Counting
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3721 Views :: Taxes
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...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....
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Sunday, October 18, 2015 |
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Taxpayers Also on the Hook for VW Diesel Dupe
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5311 Views :: Environment, Tax Credits
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...the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended an existing green vehicle tax credit to the new breed of diesels....
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Sunday, October 11, 2015 |
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Taking a Homeowner’s Exemption for a Home You Can’t Live In
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3811 Views :: Taxes
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On April 13 this year, Bill 36 was introduced in the Honolulu City Council....
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Sunday, October 4, 2015 |
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Ways to Own a Utility
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4297 Views :: Energy
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...politicians have thrown out alternative ownership models for the transaction....
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Sunday, September 27, 2015 |
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Captive Insurance: The Clean Version
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4942 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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...the IRS has added a new item to its “Dirty Dozen,” a list of tax scams....
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Sunday, September 20, 2015 |
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Can We Save the EITC by Making the Form Tougher?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3914 Views :: Tax Credits
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...an "error rate," meaning payouts to people not legally entitled to them, in excess of 20% for the last ten years....
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Sunday, September 13, 2015 |
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Tax Credits: Heads They Win, Tails You Lose
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3815 Views :: Tax Credits
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...weeping, gnashing of teeth, and litigation....
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Sunday, September 6, 2015 |
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What Should We Be Asking of the HECO Merger?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4526 Views :: Energy
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...let’s look at the tax-related conditions that are being proposed....
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Sunday, August 30, 2015 |
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Taxing Digital Goods
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4217 Views :: Taxes
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...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....
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Sunday, August 23, 2015 |
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IRS, Could You Please Answer the Phone?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4684 Views :: Taxes
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...the Hawaii Department of Taxation was able to answer less than half of the phone calls it received....
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Sunday, August 16, 2015 |
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Penny for Your Thoughts? No? How About 50 Million Then?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5474 Views :: Environment, Tax Credits
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Is that how we steward taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars?
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Sunday, August 9, 2015 |
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Relativity Media: E + mc = 0
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4680 Views :: Tax Credits
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You may remember Relativity Media from its efforts at the Hawaii Legislature in 2011 and 2012....
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Sunday, August 2, 2015 |
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You Can Have That Road, Alphonse…No! You Take It, Gaston!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5469 Views :: Hawaii History, Hawaii State Government
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...the State and counties aren’t clear on which roads they own....
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Sunday, July 26, 2015 |
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Who’s the Boss, Anyway? (Part 2)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4316 Views :: Taxes
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...voters had limited the power of its legislature to enact taxing and spending bills, and some legislators sued....
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Sunday, July 19, 2015 |
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Post-Employment Benefits Are King
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5004 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Labor
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The Hawaii Constitution says, “Membership in any employees' retirement system of the State or any political subdivision thereof shall be a contractual relationship, the accrued benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
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Sunday, July 12, 2015 |
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Clean Energy Equals $418M Tax Hike?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 7560 Views :: Energy, Tax Credits, Taxes
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Our government is supposed to be studying how to produce clean energy, not how to milk the public!
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Sunday, July 5, 2015 |
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And the Lowsman Trophy Goes To…Hawaii!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4405 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Taxes
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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%....
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Sunday, June 28, 2015 |
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Independence Means Freedom from Special Funds
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4501 Views :: Taxes
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Special funds are pots of money....
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Sunday, June 21, 2015 |
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Friends Don’t Let Friends Pay Higher Taxes?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 3661 Views :: Taxes
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...we don’t want to inflict a disproportionate amount of pain on our friends....
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Sunday, June 14, 2015 |
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Where’s the Tax Stamp on that Eggplant?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6413 Views :: Agriculture, Health Care, Taxes
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...many common vegetables contain nicotine....
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Sunday, June 7, 2015 |
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Whither the Resort Fee?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5908 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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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....
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Sunday, May 31, 2015 |
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Could You Please Answer the Phone?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4734 Views :: Tax Credits
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...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....
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Sunday, May 24, 2015 |
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Unfunded Liabilities – Smoke and Mirrors?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6036 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Labor, Taxes
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...what actually goes into this “unfunded liability” calculation....
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Sunday, May 17, 2015 |
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We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5613 Views :: National News, Taxes
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...three big issues that are holding us back in international competitiveness....
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Sunday, May 10, 2015 |
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Whose Tax Is It, Anyway? (Part 2)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4821 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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A double standard on an important issue like this is a great way to breed derision and distrust of government....
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Sunday, May 3, 2015 |
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Whose Tax Is It, Anyway? (Part 1)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5094 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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A few days ago, the United States Tax Court decided a case that is important to small business owners....
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Sunday, April 26, 2015 |
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The Magical Appearing Tax
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5541 Views :: Taxes, Drugs
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34.228%! Imagine any customer seeing that kind of tax on the bill!
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Sunday, April 19, 2015 |
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Smoking It Out
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 4284 Views :: Taxes
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HB145 has quite a history. It started as a bill to limit the tobacco tax on large cigars to 50 cents per cigar....
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Sunday, April 12, 2015 |
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Rail Tax: If You Don't Ask You Don't Get
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6180 Views :: Rail, Taxes
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...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....
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Sunday, April 5, 2015 |
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The Turtle Bay Bill, Part 2
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 8225 Views :: Environment, Development, Hawaii State Government, Land Use
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...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.”...
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Sunday, March 29, 2015 |
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No Junior, You Can't Borrow the Car… I Sold It Last Century
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:01 AM :: 4167 Views :: Taxes
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...the State used to administer the property tax back in the dark ages until the 1978 Constitutional Convention....
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Sunday, March 22, 2015 |
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HB1471: Barreling the Poor
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5364 Views :: Energy, Taxes
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...if HB1471 passes we are looking at a total tax of $53.2 million, which is an increase of about 25%....
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Sunday, March 15, 2015 |
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I Can’t Believe He Said That!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5089 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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... hundreds of little (and in some cases, not so little) pots of money sprinkled throughout Hawaii's departments, agencies, and other governmental units ....
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Sunday, March 8, 2015 |
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Pay Your Money and Take Your Chances!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 6107 Views :: Gambling, Taxes
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In Hawaii a number of us are fascinated with gambling....
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Sunday, March 1, 2015 |
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GE Tax: Piling On!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4961 Views :: Taxes
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The Legislature is considering several bills that would add increases or surcharges to the Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET)....
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Sunday, February 22, 2015 |
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Our Best Export – Our Taxes!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4474 Views :: Taxes
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...we are exporting around 15%-20% of our general excise tax....
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Sunday, February 15, 2015 |
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Hotels as Renters
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5538 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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Sales taxes in most states leave rent alone, but our General Excise Tax (GET) taxes it....
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Sunday, February 8, 2015 |
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HB1307: Fair Taxation?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5336 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Taxes
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...HB1307, introduced by Rep Kaniela Ing, raises income taxes on middle class families by 12%....
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Sunday, February 1, 2015 |
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Source Shifting
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4046 Views :: Taxes
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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....
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Sunday, January 25, 2015 |
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How Progressive Is Our System?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5506 Views :: Hawaii Statistics, Taxes
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...the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has released a report. ranking the states in terms of how progressive their tax systems are....
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Sunday, January 18, 2015 |
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The Ten Percent Solution
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4650 Views :: Taxes
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The state has been draining money out of the rail surcharge. Lots of money....
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Sunday, January 11, 2015 |
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Earned Income Tax Credit – A Solution to Poverty?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4287 Views :: Tax Credits
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...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....
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Sunday, January 4, 2015 |
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Lottery as the Most Practical Path to Wealth?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 5839 Views :: Gambling, Taxes
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...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....
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Sunday, December 28, 2014 |
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Hawaii GET: Another Perspective
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4212 Views :: Taxes
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...“policy measures and costs impacting small business and entrepreneurship.”....
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Sunday, December 21, 2014 |
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London Mayor’s Unpaid Tax Bill
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4371 Views :: Taxes
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Recently he made news by publicly saying he absolutely won’t pay his U.S. taxes....
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