The Keiki Caucus, along with business and community leaders, yesterday gathered in support of SB 2405 and HB 2352, which would allow Hawaii to implement the streamlined sales and use tax agreement and collect taxes on out-of-state sales. Currently, Hawaii is unable to collect sales tax on out-of-state purchases, including those made through catalogs and over the Internet. The proposed measures would adopt amendments to Hawaii tax laws to implement the existing streamlined sales and use tax agreement.
The amount of sales and use tax revenues that have remained uncollected is significant. “Last year, the National Conference of State Legislatures calculated that $245.5 million was not collected by our state,” said Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland, chair of the Human Services Committee. “At the same time, hundreds of thousands of children and youth in Hawaii are being impacted by the cuts that have already been made in public education, child care, higher education, public health services, youth services and public assistance, to name a few.”
“Think about furlough Fridays,” suggested Representative John Mizuno. “If we had collected that $245 million, would this even be an issue?”
State Senator Mike Gabbard (West Oahu), chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment, today announced that his committee, in conjunction with the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection chaired by Senator Roz Baker (West Maui), will convene an informational briefing on January 14, 2009 at 2:00pm in Conference Room 229 at the State Capitol.
