Tax Policy Resources

  • Earned Income Tax Credit Quick Facts

    A two-page flyer to quickly explain the EITC and help community members take action in support quickly and with ease.

  • 2022 EITC Refundability Impact by Hawaiʻi Legislative District

    Analysis of the economic and social impacts of expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit to make it permanent and refundable.

  • Refunding Hawaiʻi

    How expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit to make it refundable can boost the economy and provide opportunity to Hawaiʻi’s working families.

  • Tax Credits as Tools to Advance Prosperity

    Tax credits can fine-tune the tax system to promote social welfare and encourage economic activity by delivering targeted tax relief.

  • 2021 Tax Fairness Priorities

    The tax fairness proposals the Hawaiʻi Tax Fairness Coalition is supporting during the 2021 session.

  • Progressive Revenue Raisers Quick Facts

    A quick breakdown of the proposed package of progressive revenue raisers to help shore up Hawaiʻi’s budget, stimulate the economy and prevent harmful cuts to services and programs.

  • How Tax Fairness Can Raise Revenue and Buoy the Economy

    Past recessions have shown us that state spending cuts just exacerbate the economic damage. Instead, we should look for every opportunity to raise revenue. Lawmakers should, utilize a range of progressive tax options to close the deficit without slashing critical government spending.

  • Healing Hawaiʻi's Economy Quick Facts

    A quick breakdown of the five key lessons outlined in Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center’s brief by the same with revenue proposals to help lift our economy out of recession.

  • Healing Hawaiʻi's Economy

    To end the pandemic recession as quickly as possible, the government must increase its spending, not cut back. To do this, our state must raise revenue, and tax fairness measures should be at the top of the list.

  • Hawaiʻi's Earned Income Tax Credit: Next Steps

    Refundability makes the Earned Income Tax Credit more effective, especially for families with the lowest incomes. These families are likely to qualify for tax credits that amount to more than their income tax liability.

  • 2020 EITC Refundability Impact by Hawaiʻi Legislative District

    Analysis of the economic and social impacts of expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit to make it permanent and refundable.

  • The Renters' Credit: Lessening the Burden on Hawaiʻi's Families

    The main driver of our growing high cost of living is our highest-in-the-nation housing costs. The Low-Income Household Renters’ Credit has not been updated in nearly three decades.

  • Struggling to Make Ends Meet: The Need for a Working Family Credit

    Findings from Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s QMark Research poll conducted in 2016 that looked at the financial situation of our state’s residents and their opinion of tax credits for working-class families, especially the EITC.

  • Why We Need Refundable Tax Credits

    Lower income families lose some of the value of their tax credit when the credit size is larger than their tax liability. Making those credits refundable gives our lowest-income families the full credit they deserve.

  • Helping Working Families Afford the Cost of Food

    The Refundable Food/Excise Tax Credit is designed to help offset the financial burden the GET places on people who are working hard to make ends meet. It hasn’t been updated since 2007.

  • The Working Family Credit: Common Sense for Hawaiʻi

    Hawaiʻi’s highest-in-the-nation cost of living is driving local working families into poverty, homelessness or migration to cheaper states. A Hawaiʻi Working Family Credit would help them make it here in the islands.

  • Hawaiʻi's Unfair Tax System

    Instead of pushing low-income households deeper into poverty, Hawaiʻi’s tax system should provide opportunity through targeted tax relief for working families using a variety of credits.

  • Who's Eligible for Hawaiʻi's EITC?

    As Hawaiʻi prepares to consider establishing this working family tax credit at the state level, here are some recent data on the characteristics of the state’s EITC-eligible units.

  • The State of Poverty in Hawaiʻi

    The inability of Hawaiʻi’s families to make ends meet impacts their well-being. This report underscores the seriousness of poverty in our state and the need to make policies which increase opportunity for all.

  • Cutting Taxes for Working Families Using a Refundable State EITC

    Now is the time for Hawaiʻi to invest in its residents and businesses by creating a state refundable Earned Income Tax Credit.

  • The Case for Tax Fairness in Hawaiʻi

    Supporting our low- and moderate-income families through a progressive tax system is critical to the wellbeing of our people and to the strength of our economy.