[luau] What does Everyone think of ACT221?

[Ted Kanemori]

In the luau e-mail, I read some comments that are "pro" 221 and some
comments that are "con" 221. The newspapers are a good source of
information where it comes to telling us what meetings are being held,
but it usually ends the story with a "10,000 feet" summation of "what
happened" at those meetings. Except for the editorials, newspapers are
not supposed to be judgmental,,,, "just state the facts".
To really understand the essence of Bill 221, you need to go to the
Hawaii web site and look at some of the material that goes with the
Bill.
Like:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2001/bills/HB175_cd1_.htm
http://www.state.hi.us/tax/announce/2001ann14.htm

Nobody is saying that the bill is bad.
It is a good thing, and it has been taken advantage of by a number of
technology companies.  I was at the Bill 221 hearing sponsored by HTTA
at the capitol, and the companies that were represented gave
testimonials that spoke well of the bill and the help that it gave them,
but it was expected that their presentation would be favorable to the
purpose of the meeting. 

I have not heard of any small startup companies that have made any major
decisions based on the Bill's tax incentives.  I would like to hear from
folks that work for, or own small startups that have benefited from this
bill in a way that actually influenced the course of their company's
growth.

Reading through some of the bill's content, it was interesting how many
exemptions were being allowed for a company considered to be a QHTB
(qualifying high technology business).  It struck me that some of it
almost equated to "free money" 

A tax credit or stimulus package is one thing, but tax credits that
result in credits exceeding the tax liability is another.