Hawaii Senate approves nation’s highest income tax

[kalakoa]

I pay my taxes, but I'm not going to pay more than I am obligated.

This. Zero taxes would require lawyers that cost more than the savings. I merely make best advantage of the existing deductions and credits available to me. These are right there in the tax code. The irony is, it's nearly impossible to circumvent property taxes, yet this is the very revenue that is being misused in ways that negatively affect my local community.
At the State level, every dollar we don't send them in taxes will help to offset their decision to keep our share of the TAT, and this arrangement seems only fair.

the county is spending money where they think it's need most

Funny thing, much of the "need" here in Puna could be privately funded if the County would just get out of the way. All we really need is a little staff time from Planning, just a few "yes" votes, a bit of sanity, some permission. We live in subdivisions the size of small cities, yet we're not allowed any local commerce or services.

If Billy Kenoi spending taxpayers money at hostess bars saved the Island hundreds of thousands of dollars

Can we show that on a spreadsheet? I'll buy drinks and lap dances for the Planning Commission if that's what it takes, and I'll even use my own money instead of a P-card. It's a legitimate expense, tax-deductible...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I didn’t read the details about this bill, but hopefully it’s worded so Puna’s ag zoning isn’t affected in a way that we’ll all have to raise $10,000 of ag products to stay in our homes.  Oahu representatives proposing rules for “everyone?”  Guess it’s good for the big landowners, who have no homes or crops or State government breathing down their necks.

Mar. 21—A state effort to stop residential use of agricultural land with little or no farming has gained strong momentum in the Legislature this year.
Yet two bills aimed at plugging a longstanding loophole in Hawaii land-use law inviting such abuse have also recently received a wave of critical testimony from opponents who claim the bill would harm very small farmers.
The bills would require that homes permitted on ag land, which by law must be related to a farm, be allowed only if the related farm generates at least $10, 000 annually.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/hawaii-lawmak...00731.html

[kalakoa]

I've already researched this one.

HB247 + SB340 stipulate requirements for "farm dwellings" on ag lands with soil class A or B. Most of the eastern Big Island is class E. The largest section of class A that I could find (with a cursory search) is the flat part of Maui between the airports. There are a few bits of class A on Oahu.

The bill has other flaws; notably, they intend to determine the $10K annual income by looking at GET filings, but these don't provide enough granularity to calculate which activities were actually "ag revenue". The bigger problem is that it's nearly impossible to generate $10K/year on small acreage, and it's very difficult to find buyers for the produce without direct sales to restaurants or farmers' markets. Supermarkets, the school system and the prison system just aren't interested in small-scale producers.

Put another way, the Legislature is creating the appearance of "addressing a problem" and "responding to a concerned constituency" ... but everyone knows these "farm dwellings" pay far more taxes than an actual farmer, and since all our land-use decisions are based on "highest and best use", we're not really going to tell developers to stop.

[Kaimana]

1. I don't think that's something you should base your decisions off of. With that line of thinking since we now know Kalakoa isn't going to pay their taxes, nobody should. 

2. Is there any proof to this? I'm pretty sure what's happening is that the county is spending money where they think it's need most. If you disagree with that take that up with them or move. Don't stop paying your taxes.

1. I pay my taxes, but I'm not going to pay more than I am obligated. The future of my ohana and neighbors is more important to me than more government jobs in Hilo, a tax break for Shipman, or paying contractors billions for Oahu rail. Perhaps your priorities are different.

2. The County lost a civil rights ruling in 2000 on that very subject. We have had some receptive Puna council members, but ultimately they cannot get things passed with the rest of the council.

3. Please stop telling people to move if they don't like something. Things change, hopefully for the better if we all start paying attention.

1. Wait, were you not agreeing with Kalakoa about redefining your residence to avoid paying state taxes? Maybe I missed something. 

2. So something that happened 21 years ago is enough for you to never pay state taxes again? 
We do live in a representative democracy. If the Puna council members can't get things for their district then you should vote people in that can or run yourself. Not withhold your taxes. They can't just ram things through for their districts without the support of the rests of council. 

3. I'm only saying if you are going to withhold your taxes you should probably just move instead living here while stealing from the tax base. 

I did a knee jerk on "since we now know Kalakoa isn't going to pay their taxes".  He's simply structuring so that he pays less taxes.  The only difference between this and what the large corporations do is that the amount of taxes that they avoid is much, much larger.  (I'm assuming Kalakoa isn't a billionaire).  If what Kalakoa is doing is legal, then I would suggest that your comment borders on slander.

It was a hypothetical. I'm pretty sure he wasn't serious about it. I didn't think I had to clarify a hypothetical, but that's my fault. I should have been clearer that it was only state taxes. But besides that do you think it's a bad thing when big corporations do that?

---

1. This. Zero taxes would require lawyers that cost more than the savings. I merely make best advantage of the existing deductions and credits available to me. These are right there in the tax code. The irony is, it's nearly impossible to circumvent property taxes, yet this is the very revenue that is being misused in ways that negatively affect my local community.
At the State level, every dollar we don't send them in taxes will help to offset their decision to keep our share of the TAT, and this arrangement seems only fair.


2. Funny thing, much of the "need" here in Puna could be privately funded if the County would just get out of the way. All we really need is a little staff time from Planning, just a few "yes" votes, a bit of sanity, some permission. We live in subdivisions the size of small cities, yet we're not allowed any local commerce or services.


3. Can we show that on a spreadsheet? I'll buy drinks and lap dances for the Planning Commission if that's what it takes, and I'll even use my own money instead of a P-card. It's a legitimate expense, tax-deductible...

1. I'm honestly curious, in what specific way are your/our property taxes being misused in ways that negatively affect us locally? 

2. Again that's more of a legislative issue. You should probably focus on voting in people who will get what you want done, run yourself or move to somewhere that will live up to your standards. 

3. that was a hypothetical. I have no clue if he did that or not, I just wanted to see where everyone stood on it if it benefited them in the end. Just curious.