Entries for 'Tom Yamachika'

"All patients of all ages will be negatively impacted by service cuts, so please support privatization.”

A U.S. Supreme Court case decided in April shows us the extent to which some tax agencies will go in order to enforce their laws....

Every day, ten men go out for dinner....

If this credit does indeed become law, expect to see a lot of begging and pleading....

Forced exactions to fund our government don’t always come from taxing agencies....

Today we are looking at a bill in our Legislature that contains nothing....

Renewable fuel proponents took another shot this year at enacting a renewable fuels credit....

On Friday, April 1, April Fool’s Day, a respectable delegation of county politicians gathered in the House Finance Committee hearing room....

December 31, 2015 not only marked the end of the top Hawaii individual income tax rates, but also of some fuel tax provisions....

One of the more interesting bills still alive and being considered this session, is one that would commission a study on the effects of Hawaii’s low real property taxes....

...it seems a bit much to ask the brokers to be policemen for the counties ....

"Judge Nacino’s ruling doesn’t say that no problem exists, but just says that his court isn’t the one that can fix it”

...the Department of Taxation and its customer service, or lack thereof....

...the lowest 20% of our population pays 13.4% of its income in state and local taxes, while the top 1% pays 7.0%....

In this context, conformity means similarity to the federal tax code....

...This repetitive idiocy can cost lots of taxpayer money very quickly....

Our Legislature is in full swing now and is actively considering a number of bills that will increase our cost of living in Hawaii....

Every year, lawmakers seeking to fund their favorite programs or services inevitably ask themselves....

Apparently GEMS is an attractive target for raiding because a 2014 bond issue raised $150 million for the program and little, if any, capital has been deployed to date....

...allowing a lottery in Hawaii could open the door to other things....

...he released seven chickens in the revenue office lobby....

The low bidder for the Kamehameha Highway Stations Group appeared to be Watts Constructors, which bid $112.7 million for the project. The job went to Nan Inc., which bid $115.8 million. Why did that happen?....

Serious students of history may wonder what is going on. There is, after all, a federal law that prevents Hawaii taxes from touching an airline’s gross income....

Hawaii was one of fifteen states that were grandfathered....

DHHL was listed as having $55 million in federal housing funds awarded for Native Hawaiians but unspent, resulting in HUD suspending additional funding....

...our government has forced our utilities to jack up our electric bills to pay for this financing program that, to date, has not been able to underwrite a single kilowatt....

Students often owed $40,000 or more in college loans – holding a degree they claimed was inadequate at best....

...Uncle Sam is giving us money. But we are not spending that money so the federal agencies are saying, “Looks like you don’t need this, so why should we give you any more?”....

...the Honolulu City Council is considering an ordinance to extend the rail tax....

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%....