BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hawaii 12th worst in business taxes
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i ranks as the 12th-worst state when it comes to taxes businesses face, according to a ranking by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, an Oakton, Va.-based business advocacy group.
Hawai'i's ranking was pulled down by high scores when it came to top personal taxes rates, top capital gains tax rates, sales, gross receipts and excise taxes, unemployment taxes and diesel taxes. In all, the group looked at 16 different tax measures to rank states and the District of Columbia.
Hawai'i ranked seventh worst for top personal income tax rate at 8.25 percent, and 10th worst for top personal income tax rate at 8.25 percent. The state ranked sixth best in top corporate capital gains tax rate at 4 percent and sixth best in state and local property taxes at 1.86 percent.
MAUI GAS-PRICE AVERAGE HITS $4
Maui drivers are now paying $4 a gallon for regular gasoline, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
The Web site shows the $4 average was reached yesterday at stations in Wailuku after increasing about 74 cents in the past year.
Wailuku is the first area in the nation tracked by AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report to hit the $4 mark. In the remote coastal town of Hana, the price was around $4.55 a gallon.
Higher grades of gasoline have been priced at more than $4 on Maui for several weeks now.
AAA doesn't report gasoline prices for Kaua'i, Moloka'i or Lana'i. Drivers on the latter two islands reportedly already are paying more than $4 a gallon for regular.
The state's average is $3.67 per gallon, about a penny shy of the record high set in September 2005. California leads the nation with a state average of $3.75.
EXPO SHOWCASES TECHNOLOGY
Top technology experts and the latest technological innovations will be showcased at the fifth annual Business Technology & Innovation Conference and Expo today at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.
The conference portion of the event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the Expo is open to the general public from noon until 6 p.m. Admission to the Expo is $3.
Keynote speakers at the conference are Steve Bretches, senior information technology architect for IBM, and Scott Kerfoot, director of strategy for Microsoft's west region.
Breakout sessions are scheduled on green technology, electronic business, security technology, medical technology and network recovery.
The event is presented by Oceanic Time Warner Business Class, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i and Technology News Bytes.
HAWAIIAN TO ISSUE CREDIT CARDS
Hawaiian Airlines said it will partner with Bank of Hawaii to launch a Visa Platinum credit card April 21.
"The card will give customers of both Hawaiian and Bank of Hawaii an effective new means to earn frequent-flier mileage award benefits through the airline's HawaiianMiles program," the airline said in a news release.
With the new credit card, customers will earn one HawaiianMile for every $1 spent in purchases. Members can mix and match one-way mileage awards for interisland and transpacific flights to best match their preferred travel dates using up to 14 mileage award combinations. Every Hawaiian flight is allocated a number of mileage award seats and HawaiianMiles members have the ability to make reservations online using miles.
