Report Title:

Medical Insurance Premium; Tax Deduction

Description:

Provides a state tax deduction for medical insurance premium costs of up to $1,500 for a single tax payer and $3,000 for taxpayers filing jointly.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2032

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO MEDICAL INSURANCE PREMIUM TAX DEDUCTION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that worldwide terrorist threats have adversely impacted Hawaii's tourism industry and created a volatile and unpredictable state economy. Many local families have fallen victim to this crisis and struggle daily to make ends meet and keep up with the cost-of-living. Despite their best efforts, however, price increases in gasoline, bus fares, medical insurance premiums, and other economic essentials continue to erode the family budget and psyche.

This Act assists working families by providing tax relief for a major household expense -- medical insurance costs. The Act provides a tax deduction for medical insurance premium costs of up to $1,500 for single taxpayers and $3,000 for joint filers. The legislature finds that this Act will go a long way in providing meaningful financial assistance at a critical time for many families in Hawaii.

SECTION 2. This Act may be cited as the "Healthy Tax Relief Act".

SECTION 3. Section 235-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) There shall be excluded from gross income, adjusted gross income, and taxable income:

(1) Income not subject to taxation by the State under the Constitution and laws of the United States;

(2) Rights, benefits, and other income exempted from taxation by section 88-91, having to do with the state retirement system, and the rights, benefits, and other income, comparable to the rights, benefits, and other income exempted by section 88-91, under any other public retirement system;

(3) Any compensation received in the form of a pension for past services;

(4) Compensation paid to a patient affected with Hansen's disease employed by the State or the United States in any hospital, settlement, or place for the treatment of Hansen's disease;

(5) Except as otherwise expressly provided, payments made by the United States or this State, under an act of Congress or a law of this State, which by express provision or administrative regulation or interpretation are exempt from both the normal and surtaxes of the United States, even though not so exempted by the Internal Revenue Code itself;

(6) Any income expressly exempted or excluded from the measure of the tax imposed by this chapter by any other law of the State, it being the intent of this chapter not to repeal or supersede any such express exemption or exclusion;

(7) The first $1,750 received by each member of the reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard of the United States of America, and the Hawaii national guard as compensation for performance of duty;

(8) Income derived from the operation of ships or aircraft if the income is exempt under the Internal Revenue Code pursuant to the provisions of an income tax treaty or agreement entered into by and between the United States and a foreign country[,]; provided that the tax laws of the local governments of that country reciprocally exempt, from the application of all of their net income taxes, the income derived from the operation of ships or aircraft which are documented or registered under the laws of the United States;

(9) The value of legal services provided by a prepaid legal service plan to a taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, and the taxpayer's dependents;

(10) Amounts paid, directly or indirectly, by a prepaid legal service plan to a taxpayer as payment or reimbursement for the provision of legal services to the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, and the taxpayer's dependents;

(11) Contributions by an employer to a prepaid legal service plan for compensation (through insurance or otherwise) to the employer's employees for the costs of legal services incurred by the employer's employees, their spouses, and their dependents; [and]

(12) Amounts received in the form of a monthly surcharge by a utility acting on behalf of an affected utility under section 269-16.3 shall not be gross income, adjusted gross income, or taxable income for the acting utility under this chapter. Any amounts retained by the acting utility for collection or other costs shall not be included in this exemption[.]; and

(13) Amounts paid for medical insurance premiums; provided that the tax deduction claimed shall not exceed $1,500 for taxpayers filing individually and $3,000 for taxpayers filing jointly."

SECTION 4. The director of taxation may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to effectuate this Act.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval and shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

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