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 twenty-five percent of all the money that our General Excise … Read More
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 … Read More
In the 2017 legislative session, our legislature passed an earned income tax credit (EITC), which its supporters maintain is the best solution to lift families out of poverty since sliced bread. At the Department of Taxation‘s urging, however, the EITC … Read More
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. But have we ever stopped to think how much … Read More
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. On the federal side, … Read More
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 … Read More
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. Most states, including ours, conform to federal … Read More
Off and on, we have been discussing the Green Energy Market Securitization or GEMS program. GEMS is a financing program that was supposed to provide loans at a low interest rate to finance alternative energy systems and other clean energy … Read More
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 … Read More
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. Normally, our legislature acts as the gatekeeper for any changes to the Hawaii Constitution. … Read More