{"id":17017,"date":"2023-02-17T21:47:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T07:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=17017"},"modified":"2023-02-17T21:47:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T07:47:34","slug":"governors-tax-plan-deserves-credit-but-not-for-its-credits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2023\/02\/17\/governors-tax-plan-deserves-credit-but-not-for-its-credits\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor\u2019s Tax Plan Deserves Credit, But Not For Its Credits\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Keli’i Akina

<\/em>Gov. Josh Green made waves with some of the bold proposals he offered during his first State of the State address in January.

One of his biggest initiatives \u2014 dubbed the Green Affordability Plan \u2014 aims to give Hawaii residents more than $300 million in tax relief. The best part of the governor\u2019s affordability plan was his proposal to increase the personal exemption and standard deduction amounts for the state\u2019s personal income tax, as well as index Hawaii\u2019s multiple income tax rate brackets to inflation. Although not a cut in tax rates, these are much welcomed, and it would be a shame if the Legislature does not follow through.

Increasing the personal exemption and standard deductions would give families more money in their weekly paychecks. No waiting or paperwork. Just immediate relief from Hawaii\u2019s high cost of living. And tying Hawaii\u2019s income tax brackets to inflation? That\u2019s also a great idea that could save Hawaii taxpayers millions of dollars, if approved by the Legislature. No longer would Hawaii residents be pushed into higher tax brackets simply because their employers gave them a cost-of-living adjustment to cope with inflation.

Less welcome was the governor\u2019s call for a variety of tax credits, including for food, rent and childcare expenses. He also called for an increase in the state\u2019s earned income tax credit (EITC) and a tax credit for teachers who spend their own money buying classroom supplies.

These are all well-intentioned ideas, but rather than provide immediate financial relief at the cash register \u2014 the point of purchase \u2014 they would put taxpayer money in a government coffer before giving it back a year later.

<\/em>Then, of course, there\u2019s the matter of filing all the paperwork. In case you haven\u2019t noticed, tax credits can be complicated. The EITC form is 38 pages long, and the tax credit just for renters contains several dizzying stipulations and requirements.

Perhaps that\u2019s why many people simply don\u2019t file to claim them. They might be eligible, but all the questionnaires and paperwork make it hard to tell. There\u2019s also the concern that complicated tax credits make it easier for people to make mistakes or cheat, which can result in too much money going to the wrong people and not enough going to those who are truly eligible.

That\u2019s why I always urge lawmakers to simply just cut taxes. It\u2019s the easiest and most straightforward way to give hardworking families relief. Instead of waiting until tax season to fill out a mountain of paperwork, residents would see immediate relief at the cash register, their point of purchase.

Lawmakers would do well to enact Gov. Green\u2019s proposed increases in the personal exemption and standard deduction amounts for the income tax, plus his idea to index the income tax brackets to inflation.

The proposed tax credits? Again, I would rather our elected officials simply lower tax rates. Tax credits are good, but tax cuts are better.

KELI’I AKINA<\/strong> is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Keli’i Akina Gov. Josh Green made waves with some of the bold proposals he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,41],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=226%2C300",226,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C782",589,782,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C570",589,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C782",589,782,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C600",589,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C715",589,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=589%2C500",589,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782",589,782,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=527%2C340",527,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?resize=327%2C250",327,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Open Forum<\/a>","tag_info":"Open Forum","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/OF-Tax-Relief-color_2023.jpg?fit=589%2C782","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17017"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17018,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17017\/revisions\/17018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}