Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'

... We need fixes.  Not the temporary kind ....

... the New Year is off and running and we are quaking in our boots waiting for our Legislature to reconvene, here are some of the ideas that we have been following ....

... the important thing isn’t money for the sake of money, but whether it’s being used wisely to make our lives better ....

“...You’re going to have to earn something like that....”

... Otherwise, the money goes back to the general fund ....

... Green's top priorities for his first 100 days in office ....

... Truth Goes Through Three Stages ....

... We, as taxpayers who are supplying the money, have the right to see where it goes. In real time, not several years later as seen in one nonprofit’s recent fight with the Department of Education ....

"... it is essentially a budgeting gimmick ...."

... One thing we all need to remember is how we got to this point ....

... a typical residential building permit application took 108 days to process, while one for a commercial project took 432 days ....

... The idea seems to be gaining steam now since our federal court has struck down Honolulu’s recent ordinance clamping down on transient vacation rentals ....

... the “dedication” of the funding source is often porous ....

... we gained a few high-income individuals but lost more of those folks scraping to make ends meet ....

... $37,000 of shortfall per taxpayer ....

... The most recent and visible example is our iconic Aloha Stadium .... 

... On June 30, 2025, any of this money not contractually committed will drop back into our state general fund ....

... Hawaii Department of Transportation has been studying implementation of a Road Usage Charge ....

... Not considering charter schools, enrollment dropped from 168,152 in 2018-19 to 156,518 in 2022-23, and it is projected to decrease further to 148,096 by 2027-28 ....

... support grew when rental cars are charged a higher rate than residents ....

... the average time to process a residential building permit application was 108 days, while a commercial project took 432 days ....

... Honolulu is 75% higher in taxes than the second most tourist-taxed city in the world ....

... in excess of $579,000 once fringe benefits are factored in ....

... Why don’t we just get rid of it? ....

... The three Democratic candidates for governor all support it ....

... According to the Hawaii Physician Shortage Crisis Task Force, taxes are one of the reason for the shortage ....

... with the current licensing requirements in place the workers won’t be able to work here until they get through a bunch of bureaucratic red tape.  The state of emergency could be used to bypass the licensing requirements ....

... In a case named For Our Rights vs. Ige, the Intermediate Court of Appeals held that there was nothing wrong with what the Administration did ....

... folks who seem to rank high on the milking list:  tourists....

... Tax Department wanted get a piece of the UH research grants ....

... “2022’s Best and Worst State Economies.”  In that site, our humble little state had lots of reasons to be humble, coming in at a bottom-scraping 48th ....

... Maui County proposes to spend more than One Billion Dollars in this fiscal year, a 26% increase over last fiscal year ....

... how Hawaii compares on the ten most common household bills ....

... Whether it be a bake sale, benefit dinner, or a silent auction, any income from an activity the primary purpose for which is raising money is GET taxable ....

... It would have increased the state sales tax and would have eliminated many tax credits and deductions.  The legislature, predictably, tossed out these offsets ....

... Fat chance of the Feds giving us that much now ....

... there are a lot of different taxes that go into the price at the pump ....

... Here’s a list of some of the eyebrow-raising bills that have gone to the fifth floor ....

... Now the important deadlines are June 27, 2022, when the Governor needs to give notice of intent to veto a bill, and July 12, 2022, which is the deadline for the Governor to sign or veto any bills ....

“The general rule is that amounts received by a business that replace income are subject to GET."

... Lawmakers can be very crafty and propose things that don’t look like taxes ....

... Governor Dorothy’s two bills died in the Legislature ....

... DLNR Land Division failed to bill/collect the proper base rents for the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel lease and failed to collect over $500,000 ....

... DoTax hides the EITC application form so you can't apply for the credit ....

... some legislation that has the potential to change our tax system in very bold ways ....

... people on the lower end of the income spectrum spend comparatively more of their hard-earned dollars on general excise tax ....

... HB 2088, creates a program where you could go to a lender, borrow money to make home improvements, and then repay the loan with payments that are added to your property tax bill ....

... Some that are likely to get resurrected or with their content inserted into another vehicle ....

... “wealth tax” in Senate Bill 3182 ....

... late filing penalties, which are now 5% a month but are capped at 25%, can go to 75% ....