| 47 | | - | SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has one of the highest costs of living in the nation, placing a heavy financial burden on working families. The legislature further finds that the general excise tax on the sale of certain essential products, such as groceries and nonprescription drugs, disproportionately impacts low- and moderate-income families. While completely eliminating these taxes would also eliminate their regressive impact on taxpayers, the legislature recognizes that the State's fiscal needs would not be met with the significant decrease in revenue that would result from full exemptions from the general excise tax. Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to reduce the general excise tax rate imposed on nonprescription drugs by one half. SECTION 2. Chapter 237, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding one new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§237- Rate for nonprescription drugs. (a) The rate of taxes imposed by this chapter on all of the gross proceeds or gross income received or derived from the sale of nonprescription drugs shall be one half of the rate imposed by section 237-13(9). (b) For the purposes of this section, "nonprescription drug" has the same meaning as in section 328-1." SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000. |
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| 47 | + | SECTION 1. Chapter 237, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§237- Exemption for groceries. There shall be exempted from, and excluded from the measure of, the taxes imposed by this chapter all of the gross proceeds or gross income received or derived from the sale of groceries. For the purposes of this section, "groceries" means products eligible to be purchased with the United States Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. §237- Exemption for nonprescription drugs. (a) There shall be exempted from, and excluded from the measure of, the taxes imposed by this chapter all of the gross proceeds or gross income received or derived from the sale of nonprescription drugs. (b) For the purposes of this section: "Drug" means: (1) Articles recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official United States Pharmacopoeia Dispensing Information, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of these publications; (2) Articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or animals; (3) Articles, other than food or clothing, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals; or (4) Articles intended for use as a component of any article specified in paragraphs (1) through (3); "Drug" does not include devices or their components, parts or accessories, cosmetics, or liquor as defined in section 281-1. "Nonprescription drug" means any packaged, bottled, or nonbulk chemical, drug, or medicine that may be lawfully sold without a practitioner's order. "Practitioner" means an individual licensed by the State or authorized by the laws of the State to prescribe prescription drugs within the scope of the person's practice." SECTION 2. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on December 31, 2050. |
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