We’ve recently found out that the City & County of Honolulu is going to take 10,000 applications from vulnerable people and families who need help paying rent or utility bills. So, it’s a good time to review the tax rules … Read More
Some taxpayers on Maui are getting a nasty surprise this year because they didn’t do anything, and their real property tax rate doubled. What happened? The Maui County Council passed a pair of bills, known as Bills 129 and 130. … Read More
John Adams, later to become the second President of the United States, enshrined the concept of “a government of laws, not of men,” in the Massachusetts state constitution of 1780. Those words were supposed to convey a fundamental idea: Government … Read More
Teacher Payments and the “Me Too” Syndrome
ThinkTech Hawaii’s announced their Top Five Shows of the Week List along with the ThinkTech Staff Pick for this week. This week’s Staff pick is from the series “Talking Tax” on 5/6/2021 hosted by Jay Fidell, called “These Tax Bills … Read More
House Bill 58, the “Frankenbill” that we wrote about before, has cleared the Legislature and is on the Governor’s desk waiting to become law. It suspends some General Excise Tax (GET) exemptions in calendar years 2022 to 2023. In this … Read More
Income tax is a complicated enough subject already. Certain things are income and certain things are not income. Some expenses can be written off and others can’t. Under House Bill 1041, which isn’t law yet but is expected to become … Read More
For many years, the counties and the State have been bickering about how much support from the State’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) they should get to help fund county infrastructure. County systems like fire, police, and parks maintenance undeniably help … Read More
Last week we wrote about an unflattering report on the State Auditor released by a working group convened by the House Speaker’s Office. The Speaker’s memo seemingly asked his working group to help the Auditor’s Office optimize its job prioritization … Read More
The House Speaker’s office recently released an unflattering report on the State Auditor. It faulted the Auditor’s Office for appointing executives without proper experience and said the move contributed to “delays and untimely reports,” and other actions that were “not … Read More