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The state House Committee on Housing advanced a bill that would have real estate investment trusts, or REITs, pay Hawaii corporate income taxes on income the companies pass to their shareholders.
The deduction, which exists because the shareholders pay the tax on income they receive from REITs, is part of federal tax rules observed by every state except New Hampshire. Opponents of REIT tax rules say Hawaii is hurt by REITs because relatively few shareholders live in Hawaii while REITs own a lot of valuable property here.
House Bill 1012 awaits a hearing in the House Finance Committee.
Buffett’s firm targets Apple, Monsanto
OMAHA, Neb. >> Warren Buffett’s company nearly quadrupled its investment in Apple to over 57 million shares during the last three months of last year.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. filed a quarterly update on its U.S. stock portfolio with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Besides the Apple move, Berkshire also revealed a new 8 million-share stake in Monsanto and added to its relatively new airline investments.
Berkshire, meanwhile, sold off a significant portion of its Wal-Mart investment and reduced its stake in the retailer to 1.4 million shares from nearly 13 million shares at the end of September.
Berkshire’s Apple Inc. stake is now worth $7.7 billion, up from roughly $2 billion the previous quarter.
Starbucks to mix coffee with ice cream
NEW YORK >> Starbucks plans to start testing concoctions that mix coffee and ice cream.
The Seattle chain said Tuesday it will serve “affogato” varieties of hot or cold coffee over ice cream at 100 stores in Orange County, Calif., starting today, with pricier versions sold at 10 locations with its “reserve” bars.
Spokeswoman Holly Hart Shafer said the treats were first introduced at the company’s Roastery store in Seattle, which is a pipeline for potential new menu items. She said “affogato” means “drowned” in Italian. The priciest version at regular stores is a 12-ounce option that costs $6.45 and mixes cold-brew coffee with ice cream.
ON THE MOVE
>> Hawaiian Electric Co. has announced that Shannon Tangonan is its new director of external corporate communications and spokeswoman for HECO. She was previously an editorial writer at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, a reporter for The Honolulu Advertiser and a reporter at USA Today. She also worked at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where she covered public safety and crime.
>> Kuakini Health System has hired Wennie Tomita as its chief financial officer and vice president, finance. Her responsibilities include managing the financial and accounting operations of the Health System and its subsidiaries as well as overseeing the purchasing, accounting, business services and revenue management departments. Tomita is a certified public accountant and has 24 years of expertise and knowledge in auditing, tax work and financial accounting.
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