By the way, could we have $50 million more?
Our Legislature is now in session, and one of the big functions of the money committees — the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Finance — is to balance the state budget.
A penny for education
One of the bills making its way through our legislative system this session is one that would create a special fund for public education, and then funnel to that fund 25 percent of all the money that our General Excise Tax brings in.
Trump tax in Hawaii?
One of the more visible tax issues that our lawmakers will be thinking about this session is how to adapt the new federal tax law changes, sometimes called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and what we have been calling Trump Tax, to Hawaii.
The value of a refundable credit
In the 2017 legislative session, our Legislature passed an earned income tax credit (EITC) law, which its supporters maintain is the best solution to lift families out of poverty since sliced bread.
How much does a crosswalk cost?
Most of us are very familiar with crosswalks and traffic signals. We pass a few of them every day. We might get stopped by a red light from one of them.
Oops! Math error!
The National Taxpayer Advocate recently produced a “Purple Book” containing her top 50 recommendations for the IRS. One of them concerned “math error authority,” which brought to mind one of the failings in Hawaii’s tax system.
TrumpTax, Part 2
One of the new, key components of Trump Tax is a provision important to the vast majority of small businesses. Practitioners may know it as the Section 199A deduction. Under Trump Tax, corporations that used to see a maximum tax rate of 35 percent got that rate slashed to 21 percent.
Taxpayers, be sure to pay attention
As we nervously await the opening of the 2018 Legislature, we wonder how our state will approach tax conformity now that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or “Trump Tax,” is now law.
GEMS takes one on the chin from the PUC
Off and on, we have been discussing the Green Energy Market Securitization or GEMS program.
What’s a carbon tax?
Recently, the Hawaii Tax Review Commission’s primary consultant, PFM Group, issued a final report to the commission asking it to review many taxing alternatives, including a “carbon tax” that had the potential to put an additional $360 million per year into our state coffers (assuming a tax rate of $20 per metric ton of CO2 released).
Constitutional convention
The 2018 general election is going to be a special one for our state because we get to vote on whether to have a constitutional convention.
Be wary of world of cybergambling
Our state was recently in the news when state Reps. Chris Lee and Sean Quinlan held a press conference in response to the controversy surrounding loot boxes and microtransactions in video games.
The tax administration’s slush fund
Among the state Department of Taxation’s special, revolving and trust funds is one, the Tax Administration Special Fund, which is becoming an all-purpose slush fund for which corrective action is needed.
Are car rentals ‘Tourism-related services’?
Are car rentals “tourism-related services?” This is an important question because “tourism-related services” have favorable treatment under the state general excise tax (GET), but rental cars are not now under that category.
No end to litigation, part 2
Two weeks ago we wrote about a case in which the state audited and assessed the taxpayers, causing the taxpayers to spend millions of dollars on litigation that resulted in a court judgment.