Taxes

...Full Text: Letter to HART Boardmembers, Mayor and County Councilmembers from John Henry Felix....

...State inheritance and estate taxes, together with the federal estate tax, reduce investment, discourage business expansion, and can sometimes drive wealthy taxpayers out of state....

...rail is like the cousin who is always hitting you up for money....

...the share of state and local road spending that is covered by tolls, user fees, and taxes varies drastically. It ranges from only 12 percent in Alaska to 76.3 percent in Hawaii....

...Hawaii GET taxes many products multiple times and ultimately taxes 99.21 percent of the state’s personal income compared to the national median sales tax which applies to 34.46 percent of personal income....

One of the legislative bills that is now being considered by Gov. David Ige is a curious bill, HB 735, involving the car rental industry.... 

...Either Anderson did not understand how the GE Tax works, or he pretended not to....

...Hawaii recently became the first state to make a major push towards a universal basic income....

To what or whom should we be looking for leadership to get us out of this mess?

It really comes down to workers not getting much out of their paychecks because of a high cost of living and high taxes....

...Hawaii taxes the spirit at $5.98 per gallon....

Honolulu raked in over $50 million in property taxes last year, from the top 10 taxpaying properties alone....

...no specific dates have been set for the special session and no rail funding mechanism has been agreed upon....

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

...negotiations with the public employee unions take place mostly at the state level, but the counties nevertheless are on the hook....

...retroactive tax legislation....

...state lawmakers are eager to capture $26 million dollars in tax money every year from short-term vacation rentals....

All fifty states and the District of Columbia impose some tax on beer above and beyond the general sales tax....

...McDermott calls for Special Session....

...Tax Foundation of Hawaii v. State of Hawaii on Thursday, July 6, 2017, at 11:15 AM at the Supreme Court Courtroom....

...state lawmakers mostly would just be raising taxes on the rich and giving it to themselves....

GEMS, as a program, has been a miserable failure, resulting primarily in a large wad of cash that is just sitting in the bank. That’s why our legislature got the bright idea to “use” it to prop up another miserable failure – the “Cool the Schools” initiative....

...but they didn't limit the oppressiveness of the income tax hike that went with it....

...Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai counties are all considering raising the property tax....

Property taxes are assessed as a percentage of home values, so it follows that higher property taxes are paid where housing prices are higher than average....

On April 26, the Trump Administration released a document that contained a roadmap of sorts for an overhaul of the federal tax code....

But signs in the media, the Legislature and the governor’s office all point to a special session this summer where the tax hikes are likely to materialize....

We're the Hawaii expats....

For this week’s map, we look at state cigarette tax rates across the country....

Today's Star-Adv Labels what many consider a sensible decision as an “Epic Fail” in screaming all-caps....

...Shut up or we’ll make you pay for rail too....

...the Senate remains open to negotiate an agreement with the House to ensure adequate financing to complete the project, yet minimize the impact on the most vulnerable citizens of the community....

...the lack of dissent allows tax-and-spend policies to move smoothly through the Hawaii Legislature...until....

... Hawaii ranks 31st at 21.5% of collections ....

TAT Tax Hike for Rail and HSTA and a Massive Income tax Hike on Small Business Owners....

How does a county raise money?

There are two factors contributing to this regional variation. The first is that higher-income taxpayers tend to take larger deductions....The second factor for county-by-county variation is that state and local tax regimes differ substantially....

...Shifting Burden to Hotels Will Hurt Tourism and Employment....

On average, 23.3% of state and local tax revenues came from sales taxes in fiscal year 2014.  For Hawaii 37.6%....

The most recent version of Rich States, Poor States has been released, and once again, Hawaii ends up on the wrong end of that title....

...the phenomenon of locals leaving Hawaii to live on the mainland has been increasing significantly in recent years....

Most families in Hawaii know that they shouldn’t spend more money than they have. But somehow, Hawaii legislators haven’t gotten the message....

The experts at Anderson Economic Group have considered 11 taxes that businesses pay in order to produce the most comprehensive business tax burden ranking to date....

The hearing will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday April 26 in Council Chambers on the eighth floor of Kalana O Maui at 200 S. High St....

IRS Ruling: Act 1 Cash Payout to HGEA members would cost ERS its nonprofit status .... 

...Caldwell introduces bill authorizing city to extend GET surcharge to pay for rail construction....