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Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'
Sunday, December 30, 2018 |
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No, Killing a Special Fund Doesn’t Kill People
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5191 Views :: Ethics, Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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...DLNR needs to understand that the money in these funds isn’t “their” money. It’s taxpayer money....
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Sunday, December 23, 2018 |
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Carbon Tax: Will You Fiddle While Paris Burns?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 7436 Views :: Energy, Environment, Tax Credits, Taxes
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...If enacted, the carbon tax would be the fifth special tax imposed on fuel....
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Sunday, December 16, 2018 |
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The County Strikes Back (part 4)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5625 Views :: Maui County, Taxes, Tourism
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...We continue with our series about a timeshare association suing Maui County seeking to invalidate its “Time Share” property classification, with the county then striking back....
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Sunday, December 9, 2018 |
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The County Strikes Back (part 3)
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5697 Views :: Maui County, Taxes, Tourism
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...We continue with our series about a timeshare association suing the county, with the county then back assessing the association for $10 million....
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Sunday, December 2, 2018 |
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The County Strikes Back (part 2)
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5791 Views :: Maui County, Taxes, Tourism
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...Timeshare association sues county; county then back assesses association for $10 million....
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Monday, November 26, 2018 |
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The County Strikes Back (part 1)
By Tom Yamachika @ 2:03 PM :: 5807 Views :: Maui County, Taxes, Tourism
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...a long and hotly litigated property tax case from Maui....
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Sunday, November 18, 2018 |
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Walden versus OHA’s LLCs
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5747 Views :: Ethics, OHA
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...These companies received cash and property, including 1,600+ acres of land in Waimea Valley, from OHA....
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Sunday, November 11, 2018 |
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Oh? Can’t We Keep HART’s Funding Sources “Pure”?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5071 Views :: Rail, Taxes
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...For a long time, I was wondering what the authors of 07-001 were smoking....
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Sunday, November 4, 2018 |
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It’s Real Property Because We Said So!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 6257 Views :: Maui County, Energy, Taxes
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...a case now pending in the Hawaii Supreme Court that may give us some insight on county real property taxes and their limits....
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Sunday, October 28, 2018 |
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Take-Aways from the “Con-Am” Argument
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3736 Views :: Taxes
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...a prior Hawaii Supreme Court case, Cieri v. Leticia Query Realty, 80 Haw. 54 (1995), said, “[R]eal estate is, particularly in Hawai`i, both scarce and expensive. As a result, the purchase of real estate or a residence likely is the largest ‘investment’ a person in Hawai`i may make in a lifetime.”....
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Sunday, October 21, 2018 |
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Do We Really Have a Spending Ceiling?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4681 Views :: Hawaii History, Taxes
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...another provision that was passed by the 1978 Constitutional Convention to assure our fiscal health—and what our lawmakers have done to marginalize it....
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Sunday, October 14, 2018 |
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General Income Tax Credit: How Legislators Subverted Will of 1978 ConCon
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5277 Views :: Hawaii History, Tax Credits
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...The saga of this credit tells us a little about a bold move undertaken in the 1978 Constitutional Convention and our lawmakers’ reaction....
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Sunday, October 7, 2018 |
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Guess Which Agency May Be Forgoing Millions in Federal Dollars?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 5158 Views :: Education K-12, Health Care, Taxes
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...It is very tempting for a DOE administrator to think, “There’s no benefit for us if we do all this work because the Legislature needs to fund us anyway...."
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Sunday, September 30, 2018 |
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Guess Which Agency Can Impose State Tax?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:01 AM :: 7234 Views :: Education K-12, Development, Taxes, Cost of Living
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...This law, which we have discussed before, recently has been used to create a “school impact district” that goes from Kalihi to Ala Moana....
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Saturday, September 29, 2018 |
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HSTA Rent Tax: 14 Groups Support Counties Appeal to Supreme Court
By Tom Yamachika @ 6:36 PM :: 4784 Views :: Education K-12, Taxes
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...The Tax Foundation of Hawaii, a nonprofit taxpayer watchdog organization, together with 14 other organizations, businesses, and individuals, submitted a court filing supporting the Counties’ request that the Hawaii Supreme Court void the ballot measure for school funds....
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Sunday, September 23, 2018 |
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Say It’s a Tax!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5373 Views :: Education K-12, Ethics, Taxes
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...the ballot question doesn’t say anything at all about tax. Does that make the ballot question misleading or deceptive?....
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Sunday, September 16, 2018 |
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Historic Homes--$2M Tax Exemption Gift to 342 Households
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4253 Views :: Honolulu County, Taxes
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...the City is giving the exemption to 342 homes and forgoing taxation on $600 million in property value, translating to a revenue loss exceeding $2 million....
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Sunday, September 9, 2018 |
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Taking Exemptions Without Really Knowing
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3384 Views :: Taxes
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...These days, our General Excise Tax (GET) contains exemptions and reduced rates that are supposed to reflect commercial reality but often contain leaps of faith....
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Sunday, September 2, 2018 |
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Kauai Cash Grab: Long wait for Homeowners Property Tax Exemption
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5943 Views :: Kauai County, Ethics, Taxes
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...How long do you think it takes between buying a home on Kauai and having the “home exemption” effective for real property tax there?....
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Sunday, August 26, 2018 |
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Raising Taxes Means Decreasing Prices?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5308 Views :: Taxes, Cost of Living
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...Maybe it’s just a question of semantics....
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Sunday, August 19, 2018 |
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Cashing In on Production Credits
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3954 Views :: Tax Credits
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...48 productions registered for the credit, with estimated qualified expenditures north of $268 million in exchange for $55 million in tax credits....
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Sunday, August 12, 2018 |
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Weekends Safe from Cackling Lawyers?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5049 Views :: Honolulu County, Ethics, Taxes
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Back in 2014, we wrote in this space about a nasty Honolulu City & County rule involving real property tax appeals....
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Sunday, August 5, 2018 |
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Wayfair – Playing Catch-Up
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5326 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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...One good thing is that Hawaii has made its position known early, so that those businesses who choose to compete in our marketplace will know what the rules are....
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Sunday, July 29, 2018 |
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The Wayfair Switch in Time
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4724 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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...In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Wayfair v. South Dakota case. It was a huge turning point in constitutional law involving the ability of states to tax “online sellers”....
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Sunday, July 22, 2018 |
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Who Can We Beat Up with Property Tax?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3959 Views :: Taxes
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....the possibility of new state-mandated property taxes....
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Sunday, July 15, 2018 |
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HB2748: $500,000,000 Hole in Budget
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5885 Views :: Development, Tax Credits
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... $200 million, or most of it, is headed out the door with no visible means of getting it back.....
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Sunday, July 8, 2018 |
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If You Don’t Rock the Boat, How Do You Change Its Direction?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4816 Views :: First Amendment, Hawaii State Government
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...When many of us in Hawaii grew up, we were taught to go with the flow....
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Sunday, July 1, 2018 |
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It’s Not Easy Bein’ — an Employer
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4838 Views :: Labor, Small Business
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...Before I hire the worker, I need to comply with laws saying what I can and can’t ask the prospective employee....
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Sunday, June 17, 2018 |
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Can’t You Just Change the Agenda?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5172 Views :: Ethics, Rail
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...Recently, State Auditor Les Kondo shocked the public and some Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) Board members when he charged, at a HART board meeting, that HART employees had been required to record all interviews with State Auditor personnel....
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Sunday, June 3, 2018 |
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The California Stupidity Fund, Part 2
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5382 Views :: Tax Credits, Taxes
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...Now, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury have indicated that they are going to weigh in....
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Sunday, May 27, 2018 |
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We Can’t See It or Touch It, But We Can Tax It!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5151 Views :: Small Business, Taxes
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...HB 2416 applies Hawaii Use Tax to intangible property....
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Sunday, May 20, 2018 |
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Finding the Magic Bullet: City’s Share of Rail Administrative Costs
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 6104 Views :: Honolulu County, Rail, Taxes
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...In a recent hearing in the Honolulu City Council’s Budget Committee, council leaders say that they might have found a “magic bullet”....
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Sunday, May 13, 2018 |
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Reactionary Reaction to Resort Fees
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5021 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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...SB 2699 proposes to make “resort fees” subject to our Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT)....
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Sunday, May 6, 2018 |
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Letting the Genie Out of the Bottle…for Our Keiki?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5005 Views :: Education K-12, Taxes
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...The amendment, if approved by the voters, does not define what investment real property is. Nor does it contain any limitations on the taxing power. Almost all the details are left up to the state legislature....
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Sunday, April 29, 2018 |
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HB2432: The Tax Office Said So, So It Must Be True!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:01 AM :: 4904 Views :: Taxes, Tourism
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...HB 2432, one of the bills actively being considered this session, proposes to hike the “transient occupancy tax,” or TOT, by an as-yet-unspecified amount....
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Sunday, April 22, 2018 |
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Mighty Morphin Power Bills!
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4690 Views :: Ethics, Taxes
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...lots of surprises as lawmakers press forward....
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Sunday, April 15, 2018 |
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220% Conveyance Tax Hike: HB207 Gut n Replace
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 5069 Views :: Ethics, Taxes
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...The Feds Gave You a Break? Now We, the State, Can Turn the Screws!....
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Sunday, April 8, 2018 |
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Can Government Avoid Its Responsibilities with LLCs?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4881 Views :: Ethics, OHA
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... Can you say 'ankle shackles?' ....
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Sunday, April 1, 2018 |
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Financial Planning for a $200M Per Year Deficit?
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 3552 Views :: Taxes
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...why do we have a current state financial plan that spends more than $200 million every year over available revenues?....
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Sunday, March 25, 2018 |
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The California Stupidity Fund
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4378 Views :: Taxes
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...California is now trying to enact a workaround, and some Hawaii lawmakers are actively considering similar legislation....
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Sunday, March 18, 2018 |
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An Opportunity for Opportunity Zones
By Tom Yamachika @ 5:00 AM :: 4027 Views :: Tax Credits
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...Ige needs to take action by March 21, 2018 to take advantage of "qualified opportunity zones"....
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Sunday, March 11, 2018 |
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Groundhog Day in the Hawaii Senate
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 3696 Views :: Taxes
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... “It wasn’t that long ago that I was before this same committee testifying on a very similar bill on the very same tax provision, seeking to do the very same thing....”
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Sunday, March 4, 2018 |
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By the Way, Could We Have $50 Million More?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5867 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes, Tourism
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...In the middle of this process, sometimes a letter from the Governor arrives saying, “We need to make some adjustments...."
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Sunday, February 25, 2018 |
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Teachers Union Grabs for Billion Dollar Slush Fund
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5525 Views :: Education K-12, Taxes
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...Do the problems in our classrooms have anything to do with special funds at all?....
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Sunday, February 18, 2018 |
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Trump Tax In Hawaii?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 5600 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Taxes
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...how to adapt the new federal tax law changes to Hawaii....
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Sunday, February 11, 2018 |
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The Value of a Refundable Credit
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 4563 Views :: Tax Credits
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...In the 2017 legislative session, our legislature passed an earned income tax credit (EITC)....
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Sunday, February 4, 2018 |
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How Much Does a Crosswalk Cost?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 3746 Views :: Hawaii State Government
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...Senate Bill 2004, tells the story of just one signalized crosswalk yet to be built....
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Sunday, January 28, 2018 |
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Oops! DoTax Math Error!
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 4244 Views :: Taxes
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...“math error authority” brings to mind one of the failings in Hawaii’s tax system....
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Sunday, January 21, 2018 |
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Small Business Tax Cut: Will Hawaii Legislature Conform?
By Tom Yamachika @ 4:00 AM :: 3674 Views :: Taxes
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...lawmakers will be asked to conform our Hawaii income tax law to the federal changes that have taken place in 2017....
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