BUSINESS BRIEFS
Attorney chosen to help Treasury
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Honolulu resident Wayne Tanna has been selected by the U.S. Treasury Department to serve on the nationwide Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a group that takes taxpayers' comments and makes suggestions for improving the service of the Internal Revenue Service.
Tanna, an attorney and accounting professor at Chaminade University, is one of 95 volunteers chosen nationwide to serve on the panel.
PM REALTY OPENS 2 OFFICES
Commercial real estate firm PM Realty Group announced that it has opened offices on Maui and the Big Island. The Texas-based company with an office in Honolulu handles leasing and management for more than 5 million square feet of space in the islands.
DEFECT COSTLY FOR AUTOMAKER
DaimlerChrysler will pay $94 million to repair defective anti-pollution equipment on 1.5 million Dodge and Jeep vehicles.
The settlement is the largest ever involving the failure to report an emissions-related defect to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The deal affects 1996-2001 Jeep Cherokees, Grand Cherokees, Wranglers, Dodge Dakota trucks and Dodge Ram vans, wagons and pickups.
H&R BLOCK SETTLES LAWSUITS
Tax preparer H&R Block Inc. yesterday agreed to pay $62.5 million to settle a number of class-action lawsuits dealing with its use of refund anticipation loans.
H&R Block said the settlement, pending approval, would cover more than 8 million customers who got the loans between 1989 and 2005.
BIG TAX BREAK FOR PRIUS BUYERS
Buyers of the popular Toyota Prius hybrid, after waiting months to get their cars, now are telling dealers to keep them until next month so the buyers can qualify for what's likely to be a much bigger hybrid tax break in 2006.
Stating Jan. 1, buyers of gas-electric hybrid vehicles get tax credits that could lower their income tax bills as much as $3,150, according to an American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy analysis.
