Maui, our Garden Island, has been on the move lately. It recently passed a budget, its largest ever, where it proposes to spend more than One Billion Dollars in this fiscal year. This, by the way, is a 26% increase … Read More
Sometimes we wonder just how lucky we are to live in Hawaii. We all know it’s a pricey place, but sometimes it takes raw statistics to drive that point home. This week, we are looking at statistics from doxo, a … Read More
Many of us have had the chance to work with nonprofit associations, either as a board member, volunteer, or paid staff. It isn’t clear to many people how our tax laws, specifically our GET, apply to these associations, so I … Read More
About ten years ago, the state of Kansas enacted one of the largest income tax cuts in that state’s history. It came after vigorous efforts by Kansas’ governor at the time, Sam Brownback. He compared his tax policies with those … Read More
This week, I’m going to do something a little different. I’m going to trot out an analysis that was done by one of my predecessors. Who and when will be revealed later. (My comments on how they relate to today’s … Read More
Many of us who drive cars now dread the day when we’ve got to go to the gas station. Between COVID-19, Russia vs. Ukraine, and other economic factors, gas prices have already passed the $5 per gallon mark and don’t … Read More
In last week’s column we started a list of bills that the Hawaii Legislature has passed up to the Governor for action. Here’s a list of some of the eyebrow-raising bills that have gone to the fifth floor. Senate Bill … Read More
The Hawaii Legislature is done for the year. Its last day for this session was May 5th. It has done all its work on new laws for this season. Some of the bills it finally passed have already been signed … Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic made history both here and abroad, but for different reasons. Here, it was remembered not only for the 1,400 lives it claimed, but also for the businesses it hurt or ruined. Our experience was similar to other … Read More
Here at the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, we try to follow and report on bills proposing new taxes. We try like heck to pick up any bill that mentions taxes, or affects the tax codes. But that’s not enough. Lawmakers … Read More