ITEP Work in Action
Hawai’i Worldwide Combined Reporting Bill Cites ITEP Data
February 25, 2025
House Bill 116 in this year’s state legislative session in Hawai’i cites ITEP data on the revenue potential of worldwide combined reporting (WWCR). (For more on WWCR, read our recent report here.)
Hawai’i Appleseed: How a Second Trump Presidency Could Impact the Pocket Books of Hawaiʻi’s Working Families
December 22, 2024
With President-elect Trump preparing to return to the White House in 2025, it’s worth examining how his proposed policies could impact Hawaiʻi’s economy, tax system and the household budgets of local working families. Read more.
ITEP’s Miles Trinidad Testifies Against Weakening Hawai’i’s Estate Tax
April 9, 2024
HB 2653 would only exacerbate the regressive nature of Hawai’i’s state and local tax system and compound the preferential treatment of income derived from wealth.
Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: Rebalance Hawaii’s Upside-Down Tax Code to Achieve Prosperity for All
January 24, 2024
Our state tax code makes the situation worse. A comprehensive analysis of state and local taxes across the country shows that Hawaii is the third-worst state when it comes to taxing struggling working families. Households in the lowest income category pay an effective tax rate of 14.1%, while the richest 1% pay an effective tax rate of 10.1%
Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center: Closing the Capital Gains Loophole
February 1, 2023
Eliminating the preferential tax treatment of capital gains income will increase tax fairness and help fund our future. Read more.
Hawai’i Budget & Policy Center: Expanding Economic Opportunity with the Hawai’i EITC
February 7, 2022
Hawai’i’s working families continue to struggle with the nation’s highest gap between median earnings and the cost of living, and this difficult reality has only been made harsher by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, more than a third of Hawai’i households had at least some difficulty paying for their monthly expenses in December of 2021. […]
Hawai’i Budget and Policy Center: Hawai’i’s Earned Income Tax Credit: Next Steps
February 20, 2020
In 2017, Hawaiʻi passed legislation to create a state EITC.11 The new law allowed qualified taxpayers to claim a state tax credit beginning in 2018. The state tax credit amounts to 20 percent of the federal EITC but, unlike its federal counterpart, Hawaiʻi’s tax credit is not refundable. That is, if the filer owes less […]
Hawai’i Public Radio: Corporate Tax Loophole Costs Hawaii $38 Million Annually
February 20, 2019
Hawaii lawmakers are missing out on millions in potential tax revenue. That is the conclusion of a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The ITEP found that a loophole in Hawaii’s tax code allows multinational corporations to avoid paying state corporate income taxes, resulting in a loss of $38 million in revenue annually. Read […]
The Garden Island: Gap Keeps Growing Between Rich, Poor
October 25, 2018
The study finds that those in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum in Hawaii pay 15 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while those in the top 1 percent pay only 8.9 percent, “which exacerbates inequality in our state,” according to a press release about the study.
Hawaii Public Radio: Hawaii Tax System Places Larger Burden on Low Income Residents
October 24, 2018
Low-income residents in Hawaii are paying a higher share of their income in taxes than higher level earners. That is the conclusion of a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy titled Who Pays? The Hawaii tax system is considered highly regressive, due to heavy reliance on the General Excise Tax, or GET. This is despite a progressive, graded state income tax and the lowest property taxes in the nation.
Hawai’i Budget & Policy Center: Hawaii’s Tax System Exacerbates Inequality
October 23, 2018
A new report out from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) provides the vital statistics for each state’s tax system. It lays out, in clear and compelling numbers, the sobering message that Hawaiʻi taxes—and those in the United States on average—increase inequality between rich and poor.
Big Island Now: STUDY: Hawai‘i’s Low-Income Taxpayers Carry 2nd Highest Tax Rate
October 17, 2018
The main cause of the heavy tax burden on those making the least in Hawaiʻi is the General Excise Tax (GET). Families in the lowest fifth spend 10.5% of their meager incomes on the GET, while the top 1% spend only 1.2% of their large earnings. In other words, those at the bottom spend 8.75 times more of their income on the GET than do those at the top.
Hawaii News Now: Nonprofit to State on Tax Savings for Low-Income Families: Check Your Math
March 29, 2018
The state miscalculated the benefits of the federal tax overhaul to low-income families in Hawaii, a new analysis concludes. The source of the confusion: The scope of the tax savings that the child tax credit benefit would offer very low-income families (those earning up to $10,000 a year).
Honolulu Star Advertiser: New Tax Benefits Likely Overstated for Hawaii’s Poorest
March 29, 2018
A nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, has estimated that Hawaii’s richest 1 percent, represented by households earning over $554,230, would save $39,420 on average next year under the new law. The group also figured that Hawaii taxpayers earning less than $26,620 would save $130 on average in taxes.
Hawai’i Budget & Policy Center: Effects of Federal Tax Cuts in Hawai‘i: Correcting the Record
March 28, 2018
Although corporate taxes are not reported on individual income tax forms, corporate tax cuts benefit those who own stocks, and the vast majority are owned by upper-income individuals. For that reason, ITEP included corporate tax breaks in its analysis of the federal tax law.
Hawaii Tax Fairness Coalition: Tax Fairness Flyer
January 18, 2017
Hawaiʻi has the lowest wages in the nation after adjusting for our cost of living, which is the highest in the nation. We also place the 2nd highest tax burden in the country on our low-income households. Faced with this one-two-three punch, almost half of our state’s residents are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Read more here
Hawaii Tax Fairness Coalition:
January 18, 2017
Hawaiʻi ranks second nationally in how heavily we tax our low-income households. In fact, we are in the minority of states that actually pushes low-income people deeper into poverty with taxes. As a result, nearly half of our state’s residents live paycheck-to-paycheck. Read more here
Hawaii Appleseed: State of Poverty 2016
April 15, 2016
“In April 2016, the Hawai‘i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice released a report entitled “The State of Poverty in Hawai‘i: How Hawai‘i’s Residents Are Faring Post-Recovery.” The report brings together the most recent available data to provide a snapshot of how low-income residents have fared after the economic recovery.” Read more
Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: Cutting Taxes to Strengthen the Economy and Boost Hawai’i’s Families: A Refundable State Earned Income Tax Credit
February 10, 2016
“Building a stronger Hawai‘i for businesses and residents means creating more opportunities for working families to climb the economic ladder. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a proven tool for fostering economic prosperity.” Read full report
Hawaii Appleseed Center: Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest
April 23, 2015
When the top marginal tax rates and cap on itemized deductions expire in 2015, Hawaii’s wealthiest residents will see a windfall. Meanwhile, our working families are not scheduled to get any relief. Read the full report here.
Hawai’i Appleseed Center: Creating a Fairer State Tax System and Economy for All Families
December 20, 2013
Our state’s lower-income families are faced with almost insurmountable structural challenges to escaping poverty. They face the highest cost of living and highest cost of shelter in the nation, with three-quarters of extremely low-income people spending over half of their income on shelter. At the same time, our wages are the lowest in the nation […]
Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: Tax Policies That Will Help End Poverty for Hawai’i’s Lowest Income Families
January 15, 2013
THIS REPORT RECOMMENDS that the State of Hawai‘i adopt two tax measures to address the needs of low income individuals and families: 1. A refundable Hawai‘i Earned Income Tax Credit. We propose the Hawai‘i EITC be fixed at 20 percent of the taxpayer’s federal refundable earned income tax credit. 2. A non-refundable Hawai‘i Poverty Tax […]
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: The Impact of Hawaii’s Income Tax on Low-Income Families
January 14, 2013
In the next few days, Hawaii’s legislature will consider the conference agreement on changes to Hawaii’s income tax, HB957. This agreement, which appears to have the support of legislative leadership and the governor, increases the standard deductions and expands the tax brackets beginning in tax year 2007. [1] The bill fails to remedy a well-documented […]
Hawai’i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice: How the Great Recession disproportionately impacted Hawai’i’s disadvantaged and policy recommendations to achieve fairness
December 17, 2012
“THE HAWAI‘I APPLESEED CENTER for Law and Economic Justice has compiled this report to illustrate the crisis facing those living in poverty in Hawai‘i and who are suffering severely as they bear the heaviest burden of the recession. We also propose solutions to address the crisis by increasing revenue and implementing policies that strengthen our […]
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