Entries for 'Lowell L Kalapa'

The report for November pegs growth in TAT revenues at a positive 9.0% while the collections of the general excise tax are down by 3.4%....

... another legislative session looms large on the horizon ....

Now that everyone is aware that the tax increases of the last few years have allowed state government to accumulate nearly a billion dollars in surplus funds, it is time for policymakers to think about insuring that Hawaii is ready for the next downturn....

For years, local leaders, both within government and the business community, depended on the umbilical cord to federal funds secured by Hawaii’s Congressional delegation....

...how is the new health care initiative going to affect businesses?

One of the idiosyncrasies of the real property tax is an action taken by a county or City council called compromises....

Whew, we dodged the bullet, sighed many beneficiaries of the federal largesse....

...legislative leaders have been taking a dog and pony show on the road to try and convince county officials to give up their revenue sharing of the transient accommodations tax....

More than a decade ago, lawmakers and tax department officials finally realized that it is possible to purchase services for resale....

A couple of weeks ago, this commentary examined some of the hurdles that stand in the way of producing more affordable housing....

The shut down of the federal government pivots on which side will blink first....

Last week’s partial shutdown of the federal government broke records on the airwaves of twitter and other social media with much of the criticism....

Apparently when one is an elected official, one has to make sure that their concerns reflect the concerns of their constituency and obviously the concerns of seniors is right up there at the top of the list....

...unlike other states that have a retail sales tax structure, Hawaii’s general excise tax focuses on the gross income received by a business....

there is a glaring paradox as observers decry the shortage of affordable housing ... while at the same time prevent the development of additional affordable housing....

For more than 35 years the state has adhered to a policy of conforming with the federal income tax code....

...those lost revenues resulted in lawmakers having to raise additional revenue....

...enthusiastic supporters of some very specific causes pushed lawmakers to allow taxpayers to designate a portion of their state tax refund for their specific cause....

For many years it was difficult for policymakers and administrators to conceive that services, like goods, could be purchased for resale....