§231-3.4 Publication of reports. (a) The department of taxation shall publish reports on the following:

(1) Hawaii income patterns--individuals;

(2) Hawaii income patterns--businesses;

(3) Tax credits; and

(4) General excise tax exemptions that:

(A) Are tax expenditures at the wholesale rate;

(B) Are tax expenditures at the retail rate; and

(C) May be foregone opportunities to export taxes;

provided that the department of taxation shall have the discretion to determine the exemptions that fit within each of the categories within subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) and those that do not fit into any of the categories. The department shall not be required to publish reports on exemptions that do not fit into any of the categories.

(b) The department shall make each of these reports available in both paper form and commonly accessible electronic forms.

(c) The department of taxation shall provide the reports required by subsection (a)(1) and (3) to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session; provided that on or before December 31, 2015, the department of taxation shall report to the legislature on the status of upgrading its forms and reporting capabilities per the implementation of the department of taxation's tax system modernization. The department of taxation shall provide the reports required by subsection (a)(2) and (4) to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2017 regular session and each session thereafter.

(d) The department may explore and implement all reasonable methods of covering the costs of distribution of the reports, including but not limited to:

(1) Setting reasonable fees that will cover the costs of producing and distributing the reports in paper and electronic form; and

(2) Negotiating licensing fees with commercial information providers for rights to carry the reports on-line or in other electronic storage methods. [L 1996, c 250, §2; am L 2012, c 189, §1; am L 2015, c 94, §2]