A few days ago, I got my annual emailed reminder from the Social Security folks that they prepared an electronic statement for me – they’ve gone green, so they aren’t sending those statements on paper any more. So, for the … Read More
Recently, State Auditor Les Kondo shocked the public and some Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) Board members when he charged, at a HART board meeting, that HART employees had been required to record all interviews with State Auditor personnel … Read More
If you are a serious student of Hawaii constitutional law, here is a question for you. Where in our state constitution does it say we have to have a balanced budget? The answer appears later in this article. The part … Read More
About three months ago, I wrote about the $10,000 limitation on deductions for state and local tax that is part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In a nutshell, you can only deduct up to $10,000 in … Read More
This week we look at HB 2416, a bill that applies Hawaii Use Tax to intangible property. The Use Tax is a tax designed to protect our local businesses. As a consumer, you often have a choice between buying a … Read More
In a recent hearing in the Honolulu City Council’s Budget Committee, council leaders say that they might have found a “magic bullet” – one that they say will get the City’s share of rail funding done painlessly. Here’s the issue. … Read More
One of the bills that has come out of the recently concluded legislative session is SB 2699, which proposes to make “resort fees” subject to our Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT). A “resort fee,” which also goes on your bill if … Read More
This November, voters throughout the State will be given the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment, brought forward by Senate Bill 2922, supposedly to fund primary school education. The amendment would give the State Legislature the power to impose … Read More
HB 2432, one of the bills actively being considered this session, proposes to hike the “transient occupancy tax,” or TOT, by an as-yet-unspecified amount. This part of the bill is noteworthy for the factual support behind it. Or, more particularly, … Read More
In last week’s article, I said we should look forward to lots of surprises as lawmakers press forward with our legislative session with techniques such as “Gut and Replace” to give our legislative bills content that doesn’t at all resemble … Read More