DOTAX: Announcement 2003-03

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DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 2003-03
April 8, 2003

RE: List of Candidates for Political Office Who Voluntarily Filed Affidavit Forms With the Campaign Spending Commission

Hawaii allows an income tax deduction for political contributions, including contributions to candidates for political office.

Section 235-7(g)(2), 1 Hawaii Revised Statutes, permits an individual taxpayer to claim as an itemized deduction for income tax purposes an aggregate amount up to $1,000 ($2,000 on a joint return) per taxable year for contributions to political candidates under the following conditions:

The political candidates have agreed to abide by the campaign spending limits set by law, have filed Affidavit forms with the Campaign Spending Commission (Commission), and are reported in the Affidavit list prepared by the Commission; and
The maximum allowable deduction is $250 ($500 on a joint return) to any single candidate.

Individuals may deduct contributions to the political candidates who are reported in the Affidavit list if the contributions were made after the candidates' start dates and prior to the termination dates, if any. Contributions made before the start dates or after the termination dates cannot be claimed as a deduction. The candidates' start dates are reported in the Affidavit list under "DATE FILED" and their termination dates are reported under "TERM."

If candidate names are not listed, the candidates have not complied with their respective expenditure limit in 2002 and no deduction may be claimed for political contributions to the candidates.

The attached Affidavit list is also available at the Commission's website at www.hawaii.gov/campaign/ForTax/2002taxinfo.htm. If you have any questions regarding the Affidavit list, please call the Commission at 586-0285.

For more detailed information regarding this deduction, refer to Tax Information Release (TIR) No. 80-5, dated April 3, 1980. That TIR is still valid, except for the following changes:

Individual or married couples filing joint income tax returns who itemize their deductions on Form N-11, N-12, or N-15 may deduct political contributions to candidates who have agreed to abide by the campaign spending limits prescribed in section 11-209, HRS;
Form N-170 is obsolete and is no longer required; and
The amount of the maximum deduction to any single candidate has been increased from $100 ($200 on a joint income tax return) to $250 ($500 on a joint income tax return).

Forms and other tax information are available at the Department's website at: www.hawaii.gov/tax. On Oahu, forms may be ordered by calling the Department's Forms Request Line at: 587-7572. Persons who are not calling from Oahu, may call: 1-800-222-7572 (toll-free) to receive forms by mail or by fax.

/s/
Kurt Kawafuchi
Director of Taxation

ATTACHMENTS (All are pdf files)

List of Candidates on the Commission's website
List of Candidates from the Campaign Spending Commission(printable pdf file)

FOOTNOTES

1 Section 235-7(g)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, provide that an itemized political contribution deduction for income tax purposes shall be allowed to "any individual taxpayer in an aggregate amount not to exceed $1,000 in any year; provided that such contributions are made to candidates as defined in section 11-191, who have agreed to abide by the campaign expenditure limits as set forth in section 11-209; and provided further that not more than $250 of an individual's total contribution to any single candidate shall be deducible for purposes of this section."

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