HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	219
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the office of the auditor to conduct an audit of the department of taxation to address any issues associated with the collection of the 0.5 percent county surcharge on the state general excise tax.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Act 247, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, authorized the counties to levy, by ordinance adopted no later than December 31, 2005, a county surcharge on the state general excise tax (GET) to fund public transportation systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, through the enactment of Ordinance 05-27, the City and County of Honolulu authorized the 0.5 percent GET surcharge, which became effective on January 1, 2007; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 248-2.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, authorizes the Director of Finance to deduct and withhold a ten percent administrative fee from the 0.5 percent county GET surcharge collected; and

 

     WHEREAS, sections 248-2.6 (a) and (c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, specifies that the ten percent administrative fee of the 0.5 percent county GET surcharge collected shall be used "...to reimburse the State for the costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of the county surcharge on state tax incurred by the State..." and that "...the costs of assessment, collection, and disposition... shall include any and all costs, direct or indirect, that are deemed necessary and proper to effectively administer this section..."; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2012, the $21.2 million in GET surcharge fees collected by the State amounted to nearly the entire budget of $23.7 million needed to operate the Department of Taxation; and
     WHEREAS, the ten percent administrative fee taken from the 0.5 percent county GET surcharge appears to exceed the reasonable costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of the surcharge; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART) has had problems with the distribution services provided by the Department of Taxation in terms of its timeliness and the accuracy of surcharge payments to HART; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that the Office of the Auditor is requested to conduct an audit of the Department of Taxation to address any issues associated with the collection of the 0.5 percent county GET surcharge on the state general excise tax, including the collection amounts of the 0.5 percent county GET surcharge; the collector amounts of the ten percent administrative fee collected by the state Department of Transportation; and the incurred costs of assessment, collection, and disposition of the surcharge; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Acting Auditor.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Requesting the Auditor to conduct an audit of the Department of Taxation to address any issues associated with the collection of the 0.5 percent county surcharge on the State general excise tax.