News Release - House of Representatives September 10, 2012 - For immediate release Contact: Georgette Deemer – 341-5043 or 586-6133

House Members Oppose Tax Review Commission's Consultant's Tax Increase Recommendations

Honolulu, Hawaii. A group of members of the House of Representatives are opposing a consultant's tax increase recommendations to the 2010-2012 Tax Review Commission, scheduled to be heard in a public hearing tomorrow. The hearing will cover a draft report entitled "Study of the Hawaii Tax System: Final Report." The report was prepared for the Tax Review Commission by The PFM Group.

Specifically, the House members oppose the following tax increase recommendations:

 The increase in the general excise tax rate by 0.5 percent  The imposition of the income tax on pension income  The increase of the corporate income tax rate  The elimination of the income tax deduction for real property taxes paid

The members reserved their right to oppose other recommendations in the draft report. The testimony further states:

"We feel that such a significant net tax increase probably will be detrimental to private businesses, residents, or both, and that PFM has not sufficiently analyzed the impact of the tax increase on the economy, businesses, and residents."

The testimony in opposition was submitted on behalf of the following:

Henry J.C. Aquino Karen Awana Rida T.R. Cabanilla Mele Carroll Pono Chong Isaac W. Choy Heather H. Giugni Sharon E. Har Mark J. Hashem Robert N. Herkes Ken Ito Jo Jordan Derek S.K. Kawakami Marilyn B. Lee John M. Mizuno Mark M. Nakashima Marcus R. Oshiro Calvin K.Y. Say James K. Tokioka Clift Tsuji (Representative-Elect) Ryan I. Yamane Kyle T. Yamashita

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