Hidden taxes in Hawaii (apartment, rentals, house)

[terracore]

The GET tax is diabolical. In fact, a merchant has to pass onto the consumer the GET tax on the GET tax received on the purchase! Yes, the collected tax is actually taxed AGAIN because collecting the tax is considered INCOME (unlike a sales tax which is considered a collection for the state).

This article has the best description of this I've found:

[Slightly modified for clarity] "Because the state considers the tax you collected to be income too, so you will pay a tax on that tax you collect (confusing right?). Paying 4.5% tax on the 4.5% tax actually equals 4.7025%, but the state allows you to round up a bit and you end up with a GET rate of 4.712% of the sale amount. Most businesses force customers to pay the excise tax and then the excise tax on the excise tax, so you’ll see 4.712% on your bill, not 4.5%. On outer islands (no .5% Oahu surcharge), this means a GET rate of 4.166%. Most businesses do this because it’s common and it means that they won’t have to pay GET out of their pocket, as the customers paid it already."

http://www.ronswebsite.com/blog/hawa...al-excise-tax/

Only Hawaii can find a way to tax a tax payment that is required to pay rent, see a doctor, or purchase life-saving medicine. CRAZY! DIABOLICAL CRAZY.

(This example only applies to the GET taxes levied on the end-consumer, it does not even include GET taxes levied (and passed on via purchase price) from farmers, wholesalers, distributors, or other hands it passed through to get to you).

Anybody who wants to increase this crazy tax needs to be voted out of office ASAP until imprisonment for crimes against humanity becomes a viable option for them.

[pkfire]

Unfortunately they are even going after all online purchases! [url=http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/hawaii-struggles-to-pass-e-fairness-law/]Hawaii Struggles To Pass E-fairness Law | Hawaii Business Magazine[/url]

[KonaKat]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

So very little of anything is produced in Hawaii it seems to me to be a moot point.

Every good AND service in Hawaii is subject to the GE tax at every level of the transaction which is 4.166% (many just charge 4%). You may visibly pass the tax on or not For instance many people will advertise rent as $1250 per month. The owner must pay 4% on all gross collected income. We advertise the rent at $1200 + tax which means that the rent they pay is $1250/mo.

Doctor visits, food, prescription drugs, surgery, school supplies......EVERYTHING is subject to GE tax with very few exemptions. I don't even know something that is exempt from GE tax.

To the OP who stated that "sales tax seemed low", well that's because we have no sales tax.

[Mikala43]

It's amazing how many people don't really get the GET.


The only things I can think that is not charged is prescription drugs and materials (concrete {when your a contractor doing something resale not for yourself} that stays on a project is charged at a half percent or something).

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Mikala43

It's amazing how many people don't really get the GET.

GET is insignificant compared to what residents of San Francisco are subjected from a tax perspective. Buy $150 of groceries, buy a $50,000 car, look at the property tax bill of $1,000,000 place and compare - it's not even close. And for whining about GET on rent, try renting a place in SF and let me know what you find for $3,000/month compared to HNL. GET seems like a lot compared to Oregon, Florida, etc - the no tax states.

[hotzcatz]

If you're buying something for resale, it's only 1.5% if you have a tax license for the seller to write down. They have to prove to the tax folks that they only collected the smaller amount from someone who has the proper paperwork.

This is just another reason why folks should provide as much of their own things as possible. Plant that pineapple top and grow it into another pineapple. Each time someone does that the government doesn't collect about twenty cents. Hopefully, they won't try to figure out a way to tax gardens, but a lot of towns are making them illegal.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

GET is insignificant compared to what residents of San Francisco are subjected from a tax perspective. Buy $150 of groceries, buy a $50,000 car, look at the property tax bill of $1,000,000 place and compare - it's not even close. And for whining about GET on rent, try renting a place in SF and let me know what you find for $3,000/month compared to HNL. GET seems like a lot compared to Oregon, Florida, etc - the no tax states.

I think San Francisco blows Hawaii away as to lifestyle and what you get for your money.

I had to pay the same property tax you did on my SF property too.

But this IS the Hawaii forum, so that's what we discuss. And something being worse, doesn't make the bad.... less bad.

[whtviper1]

Well - if one doesn't like GET, what taxes do you propose to make up for it? The money has to come from somewhere.

[terracore]

"Well - if one doesn't like GET, what taxes do you propose to make up for it? The money has to come from somewhere."

Instead of replacing or increasing taxes, how about less government waste? I'm not affiliated with any political party, nor did I ever vote for anybody with "Bush" in their name, but Bush's "thousand points of light" statement was one of the most misunderstood statements made by a president. Almost everybody interpreted it as, "his" government doesn't care about people so we don't need government welfare programs.

What he was trying to say was that if you want $500 to go to a homeless program, give $500 to a homeless program. Don't give $500 to the government... by the time the bureaucracy had taken it's pound of flesh the homeless would be lucky to get $5. In Hawaii that $5 seems whittled down even further to more like $0.05.

[whtviper1]

I see. I don't think people realize how GET keeps the rest of our taxes low.

GET brings in roughly 60% of the entire state revenue.

If I eliminated DOE in its entirety AND eliminated the states contribution to Medicaid in its entirety, I'd still have more to cut. Think about it. More to cut.

Now that I've eliminated DOE and Medicaid, how about prisons? More to cut-but I am getting closer.