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Question: At the end of last year, there was a newspaper article regarding the delay of the mailing of the general excise tax booklets. Our family has several entities, and we have not received any of the booklets. Will they be mailed out soon? The 2017 first-quarter tax is due in April.
Answer: Yes. Your query indicates that you pay GE taxes quarterly, with taxes due April 20.
The state Department of Taxation hopes to have booklets for those taxpayers mailed by the end of this week, said Mallory C. Fujitani, a spokeswoman for the department.
Booklets for certain other taxpayers have already been mailed, she said.
“The printing and mailing of general excise tax, transient accommodations tax and withholding booklets for monthly taxpayers have been completed. The printing and mailing of the quarterly withholding booklets have also been completed. The quarterly GET and TAT booklets are being printed right now; we are hoping that these will be completed (printing and mailing) by the end of next week,” Fujitani said Thursday, meaning they should be out this week.
“We apologize for the late delivery of the booklets; however, the forms and instructions which make up the booklet are available at our six offices (Oahu, Hilo, Kona, Kauai, Maui and Molokai) and on the department’s website (tax.hawaii.gov/forms),” Fujitani said. “We also encourage taxpayers to take advantage of our new Hawaii Tax Online system, which allows taxpayers to e-file and pay general excise and transient accommodations taxes online at no additional charge (except when paying by credit card).”
You can find more information at tax.hawaii.gov/geninfo/get.
Q: Helicopters seemed to be a constant lately during daylight hours above Kamehame Ridge.
Do you know who is flying these helicopters? Why? And much longer will it continue?
A: Recent work by Hawaiian Electric Co. in the area explains some of the aerial activity, which is done for now, said HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg.
Helicopters assisted in HECO’s Koolau-Wailupe Structure Replacement project, which will improve electrical service reliability for Hawaii Kai and Waimanalo by replacing 13 aging wooden utility poles and parts of one steel structure with new steel poles, he said.
The work “will reduce potential for lengthy outages due to structure or conductor failure,” he said.
The work began in February and faced some delays, including due to severe weather.
“For now, flights over Kamehame are done,” Rosegg said Thursday. “We have no firm plans for more flights, and nothing is planned for the next month.”
Anyone with questions may call HECO’s construction hotline at 543-4004.
Tourism, military, law enforcement and fire and rescue helicopters also are spotted in the area, but we think your question was inspired by the recent regular flights to Kamehame Ridge for the HECO project.
Mahalo
I would like to thank Honolulu Police Department Officer P. Krog for his assistance to three older persons in Kailua in early March. He changed our flat tire after we were run off the road by a car going the wrong direction. While we were sitting on the side of the road trying to explain to our roadside service where Kailua was, Officer Krog stopped to see why we were pulled over.
After seeing the car had a flat, he immediately offered to change the tire for us. His help was (and is) greatly appreciated and will be remembered and payed forward. HPD has a valuable addition to the force who is a wonderful ambassador for the department. — Mahalo, R.K.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the kind young lady who helped me lift my roller-basket of groceries over the curb in Kaimuki. Good deeds like this help keep an older gal like me out and about. — Senior shopper
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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