Tom Yamachika

March 1, 2025 | 3 MIN READ

When following bills in our Legislature, it usually isn’t too tough to spot bills that propose tax hikes. A section in the law usually provides for a tax rate. A bill that amends that se...

February 22, 2025 | 3 MIN READ

When we look at the bills that have been introduced in this legislative session, we wonder if lawmakers aren’t thinking that the transient accommodations tax (TAT) is like duct tape, in...

February 15, 2025 | 3 MIN READ

This week I will be writing about a very interesting bill moving through our Legislature, House Bill 959 / Senate Bill 1043. I call it “Candy Crush” because it’s being pushed...

February 8, 2025 | 2 MIN READ

When we do our work here at the Foundation, we get to review a LOT of bills in detail because they involve tax or public financing. This year we are following more than 300 bills out of nearly...

February 1, 2025 | 3 MIN READ

Last year, the Legislature passed, and the governor signed, the biggest individual income tax cut in Hawaii’s history.

January 25, 2025 | 2 MIN READ

By now, most of us who go to the grocery store are used to seeing a bunch of little charges whenever we buy bottled or canned beverages. We get nicked for a nickel per container as a “de...

January 18, 2025 | 2 MIN READ

Sooner or later, we and Hawaii will have to face problems caused by increased risk of catastrophic events due to global climate change.

January 11, 2025 | 3 MIN READ

Earlier this year, we wrote about a document that directed staff at the Department of Taxation to use the negligence penalty, a penalty of 25 percent of the tax due, against taxpayers who rece...

January 4, 2025 | 2 MIN READ

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! Like we did at the start of the two prior years, we look at some of the news — the aggravations and the delights — and put them into a Word Find...

December 28, 2024 | 2 MIN READ

In February of this year, we wrote about an issue with our Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), which, in addition to being one of the largest agencies we have in state government, has the un...

December 21, 2024 | 3 MIN READ

Many of us were following the progress of the City and County of Honolulu’s proposal for an Empty Homes Tax, which we wrote about here and here, and felt relieved when the City Council d...

December 14, 2024 | 3 MIN READ

I’m sometimes asked, “What’s the biggest break that today’s tax code gives us?”

December 7, 2024 | 3 MIN READ

The last month of the year has begun. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and its variants are behind us. And the 2025 legislative session is approaching with blinding speed.

November 30, 2024 | 2 MIN READ

One of the problems that has plagued Hawaii governments at all levels is “deferred maintenance.” Simply put, it means there’s stuff broken and there isn’t presently mon...

November 26, 2024 | 3 MIN READ

In my role with the Tax Foundation of Hawaii and in private practice as a lawyer, I often have occasion to visit the Capitol website, capitol.hawaii.gov, to do research. The more I have gotten...

November 18, 2024 | 3 MIN READ

Back in the Dark Ages when I was going to public school here in Honolulu, I could get my school lunch for a quarter. An extra half-pint carton of milk was a dime. Nowadays, a school lunch cost...