Hawai'i Legal News

Corboy v. Louie (HSC April 27, 2011) Background. Real property owners and paid their taxes to the State and all the Counties under protest. The taxpayers brought a complaint in the tax court alleging that the tax exemption for Hawaiian Homeland lessees and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) of 1921 were unlawful. Essentially, the taxpayers argued that the tax exemption violated the Equal Protection Clause. The governments brought a motion for summary judgment. The motion was granted. The taxpayers appealed and the ICA affirmed. The Taxpayers' Claim: tax Exemptions for Hawaiian Homes Lessees Violate the Equal Protection Clause. The HSC zeroed in on the actual claims brought by the taxpayers: that the exemptions pursuant to the HHCA and the HHCA itself violate the equal protection clause. The HSC noted that a challenge to the HHCA tax exemption is really a challenge to the requirement that only Native Hawaiians are eligible for the homestead leases and thus...

In re Tax Appeal of Aregger (ICA November 18, 2010) Background. The Board of Taxation Review ruled on October 1, 2008, in favor of the Director of Taxation against the Areggers in an amount of $7,308.37. The Areggers filed a notice of appeal to the tax court on October 29, 2008. The certificate of service showed that a copy of the notice was mailed to the tax assessor. No copy was sent to the Director of Taxation. Notice of entry was filed by the clerk of the tax court on October 30. The notice was mailed to the Director. The Director challenged subject matter jurisdiction in his answer and later filed a motion to dismiss based on a lack of jurisdiction. The tax court granted the motion. The Areggers appealed. Statutes Require Service on Director. Tax appeals are "properly commenced by the filing . . . of a written notice of appeal in the office of the tax appeal court within thirty days after the filing of the decision of the state board of review . . . a...

In re Tax Appeal of Reel Hooker Sportfishing (ICA May 28, 2010) Background. Reel Hooker Sportfishing, Exact Game Fishing, Inc., and Finest Kind, Inc. are corporations that run charter boats around Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. They had federal permits allowing them to travel through the navigable waters between the islands. They are in the charter fishing business and allow passengers to seek pelagic game fish like marlin , ono , ahi , and mahimahi . Their source of earnings come from the fares charged to passengers. These fares include the state's general excise tax, the GET. The boat companies filed complaints against the State in the Tax Appeal Court alleging that the GET tax was preempted by federal law. The Tax Appeal Court granted the State's motion for summary judgment. The boat companies appealed. The Three Faces of Federal Preemption. The ICA addressed a single issue, whether the federal statute, 33 U.S.C. § 5(b) preempts Hawai'i's GET tax, HRS § 23...