HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

241

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requestING the departments of taxation and budget and finance to conduct a feasibility study and cost analysis of raising the standard deduction over the next three years.

 

 

WHEREAS, section 235-2.4 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes currently allows for a standard deduction in the amounts of:

(1) $1,900 in the case of:

(A) A joint return as provided by section 235-93; or

(B) A surviving spouse (as defined in section 2(a) of the Internal Revenue Code);

(2) $1,650 in the case of a head of household (as defined in section 2(b) of the Internal Revenue Code);

(3) $1,500 in the case of an individual who is not married and who is not a surviving spouse or head of household; or

(4) $950 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return;

and

WHEREAS, House Bills No. 478 and 726 of the Regular Session of 2005 called for an increase of the standard deduction amounts over a three-year period, with both bills more than doubling the standard deduction by 2008; and

WHEREAS, increasing the standard deduction will allow all non-itemizing taxpayers to reduce the amount of state income taxes they pay; and

WHEREAS, lower-income families already burdened by the high cost of living in Hawaii will benefit from a reduction in their taxable income and the possibility of tax refunds; and

WHEREAS, the standard deduction has not be adjusted in more than twenty years; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the legislature requests the Department of Taxation and Department of Budget & Finance to conduct a feasibility study and cost analysis of raising the standard deduction over three years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the feasibility study and cost analysis should be reported to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the directors of the Departments of Taxation and Budget & Finance.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Standard deduction increase; cost analysis and feasibility study