If the vehicle is simply the current, although loved, transport it doesn't make a lot of sense to pay that kind of shipping fee. Whether or not you/he need 4x4 traction would likely be found out once there and you see what the roads are like where you will be driving.

Not only that, but what does gasoline cost in Hawaii?  Might be time for a gas sipping model.

Had a couple stressful days a couple days ago but now things are okay again...I gave in and let him ship the car. We sold a few more paintings and it looks like we're going to be doing alright. DH found a site that helped him find a place to replace that windshield for $200. That's less than we thought so I'm willing to give in...even though I still think it's a bad idea to spend the money...

Watched the movie "50 first dates" last night. It's shot in Hawaii and it was weird watching it because it has so many coincidences relating to my life...just small things here and there but they add up. I saw it when it first came out and now it actually clicks more with me.

Our future landlady in Hawaii had this to say:

QuoteI know someone that can help you build your house if you haven't already hired someone.. he's helped a lot of people I know out of problems with other contractors, you have to be careful about that here.. 

We explained to her we intend to build it ourselves, but it looks like Hawaii requires a licensed electrician and a plumber to do plumbing and wiring...bah. So her friend might be able to help us with that. I don't know about septic either. Sounds like septic might cost a lot right off the bat.

I think that for the first 3 months we won't build anything, just saving money for buying the tools and materials. I like Cody's idea on this forum of panelizing the house frames. That would mean we would not immediately need to buy a generator for use on the building site. Many things to think about.


--maggie

Quote from: CREATIVE1 on June 06, 2008, 07:00:36 AM
A sidenote:  I thought I'd picked a rainy spot in Washington!  Hilo is the wettest city in the United States, with 127 inches a year.   We get 89 inches in Hoodsport on the Olympic Peninsula, with 136 sunny days.

That is why I like it where I live 3-7 inches a year total (Eastern Washington) just enought to keep some of the dust down! I used to live on the West Side and hated all the rain!! Mark

I admire you going after your dream! I'll be interested to hear how you like it. Be sure to get your Hawaii Tax ID right away so you don't have tax problems later being self employed. (you have to file business tax bi-annually) One hint... We lost a lot of money on a car we bought from what looked like a decent dealership. We owned it for five weeks. It died a few weeks after we bought it during the guarantee period, yet they refused to fix it... more like they kept blowing me off for weeks while we were without a car! We paid $6400 cash for that 2004 Neon and got $2000 trading it in (after weeks of trying to get them to fix it). We're still debating if $4000 is worth a law suit. Check the BBB before hiring ANYONE for ANYTHING! Had we checked the BBB before buying our car from Cutter Dodge, we never would have done business with them.

Thanks for the advice.

We do think of opening an art supplies store in Hawaii someday..but we'll deal with that when we get to it. Won't be for a while. ;-)

As for the car....thanks for the info, we will definitely have to be careful there. Do people still use dealers anymore to buy cars? We use craigslist for most things.

--maggie

QuoteWe sell art and that is protected by the first amendment of the constitution

How is the sale of paintings exempted from sales tax by the 1st amendment?

I receive royalties from selling my photographs and have paid tax from the very beginning. I hide nothing and have no worries about ever being audited since it would be a formality, since I hide nothing. Aren't you worried about fines? Penalties? Being arrested for tax evasion? I'd be even more worried about getting caught once you own property. Also, you'll never be able to collect social security since you're not paying into it.

I agree with Nicky.  I used to be an IRS Enrolled Agent, now a tax advisor,  but am also a hippie/counterculture type.  It got my attention when bank robbers and hookers always filed their taxes.  More afraid of the IRS than "the law."

That being said, most people in business end up paying little or no taxes LEGALLY.  That, my friend, is the way to go.

We do not have a federal sales tax.  Sales taxes are state & local taxes and are usually collected by the state.   Failure to collect and pay them would not involve the IRS or affect social security, so long as you paid your federal income tax, social security tax, medi..................  I don't know of anyone who received jail time for failure to collect and pay sales tax.  Fines, penalties, garnishment of bank accounts, liens and seizure of property are all possibilities.

Quote from: John C on June 10, 2008, 04:51:04 PM

QuoteWe sell art and that is protected by the first amendment of the constitution

How is the sale of paintings exempted from sales tax by the 1st amendment?

It isn't.  It's a recipe for problems.  I hope she can avoid paying forever, but I wouldn't want the KGB, I mean the IRS after me or even the thought of them after me.

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but it sounded to me like they don't pay tax at all. I don't have to collect or pay any sales tax because the company who sells my work deals with that and I just pay income tax, ss tax, business tax, etc on my royalties... both state and federal. I do know someone who went to jail over sales tax (just for 30 days or some short bid) and also lost their business... and the tax man don't play around. They stuck a huge red SEIZED sign on the front of the building.

I reread Maggie's post and it does indeed sound like they pay no tax at all.  Still waiting for how that's derived from the sale of art and the first amendment.

The individual you know who went to jail over sales tax.  Did he by any chance collect the sales tax but not pay it to the state?  In GA that would be theft be deception and might well land you in jail.

I think Wesley Snipes would like to reconsider his previous tax stance.

EDITED! I realized that my post might have upset some of the nice people on this forum and decided to take it down. My apologies.

--maggie

Quote from: John C on June 10, 2008, 08:52:06 PM
I think Wesley Snipes would like to reconsider his previous tax stance.

Yes he regrets not giving his lunch money to the playground bullies doesn't he? ;-)

--maggie

I choose not to post here what I think of the government, how it treats its citizens, and how it spends our money.  Many participants on this site are not in the mainstream, or they wouldn't even want build their own houses.  We're working on #2.  And our family is full of artists, writers, and musicians. 

I also have 27 years of front line experience with the IRS.  I'm not going to tell you what to do or why because it sounds like you've made up your mind anyway  But, FYI, when you have your baby, it will possibly cost you $2,000 to $3,000 a year NOT to file your taxes. 

creative1, I respect you and I do not mean to say I am better than everybody else. If I came across rather unfriendly I apologize.

Your art is absolutely covered by the first amendment.  The moment you sell your art for more than you paid for the materials, you have made a profit.  Failing to pay taxes on that is the same as not paying taxes on your job at a brick and mortar company.  Do I agree with taxes?  heck no.  Has anyone ever won a case against the KGB, er IRS?  Not to my knowledge unless it was just a mistake. 

Paying the taxes sucks, but there are far worse things if you don't pay.  I work for a company that caters to those who really don't want to be "on the grid" and still be able to purchase/do things today that require plastic.....    Even these people have no idea how much all of their activity is known by the KGB.

phalynx, thanks for the message. I do not want to keep talking about this because I don't want cause problems for the nice folks on this forum.

Quote from: maggietoh on June 10, 2008, 09:26:03 PM
creative1, I respect you and I do not mean to say I am better than everybody else. If I came across rather unfriendly I apologize.

No need to apologize.  I'm just concerned.

Maggie,  don't worry about the forum.  These people are just plain nice.  Even when they don't agree with me .  It's rather funny as someone stated in a message above, that most people on this board are similar as they wouldn't be building a house themselves.  After looking through so many posts, I think that it's not true.  I think everyone here are from all walks of life.  I believe different than what I thought many did on here only to find out that everyone is so different.  But, they are all here for one thing.  Building their dreams.  Something everyone wants and few act on.

As for the move to Hawaii.......... I added Hilo into my iphone weather lookup.  I always add interesting cities that I would want to move to in there so when I feel down about how hot it is here, I can look to see where "the grass is greener".  I wouldn't have even known about Hilo if it wasn't for your dream......  Now, I am intrigued by Hawaii...

See,,  you are contributing greatly to the "community".  Follow your dream... 

Maggie, I hope I didn't sound put off by you. As a matter of fact, I can't wait to see photos of your house once you get started... and I'm also excited to hear about your move and how you like Hawaii. Most people I talk to either fall in love with it here or absolutely hate it and can't leave soon enough. Our 3 year old minpin did the quarantine thing. She only had to do 90 days because we got her blood test done as soon as we knew we were moving here, but unfortunately we found out about this move a whopping 30 days before we had to fly. Quarantine was hard on her and at the advice of our vet, we re-home our two ten year old dogs because the vet didn't think they'd make the flight from NY. Oh, and our house doesn't have heat or air conditioning! That seemed so weird to me at first coming from NY. I've heard the big island is alot nicer than Oahu also... Once you get there, please tell us how much a gallon of milk is there! We pay almost $7 a gallon! 

As for the tax thing, we all make our own decisions and have to live with the consequences of those decisions. I won't mention it again and please continue to update how everything is going. 

To start with let me say I do file my taxes as my wife is a Federal Employee and I have to file to get her withholding back.  Federal employees are required to pay a percentage of their money in - but can get it back if they have enough other deductions. 

Let me also say, surprised as you may be, that Maggie is mostly right.  Wesley Snipes is right.  Ed and Elaine Brown are right...but I agree with Creative on this  -- it is best to work it out so that you can "not pay taxes" legally according to the IRS rules.  I use Quickbooks and Turbo Tax.  I do my own taxes.  Turbo Tax will even set you up with an attorney to defend you for a relatively small fee if you use their program and file reasonably on time.

Studying on it you will find you are only required to pay tax on foreign income - the rest is implied and you are coerced into signing your 1040 and saying you owe the tax.  Yup -- I am a sell out -- I sign my 1040  with an Without Predjudice and UCC 1-207 which means you are not signing away your Constitutional rights.

Generally they will roll a bowling ball at you and knock you over no matter what the laws state -- they don't want to hear that.

I fought a audit for a year and a half - simply because I didn't have time to do it and I didn't want to do it.  In the end I sent them a copy of my invoices -- they we so happy to get rid of me they returned a letter immediately saying accepted as filed.

So - I say Maggie is not wrong -- maybe not a choice most would want to make or a path they would want to take - from her statements I think she knows the laws and the consequences.  Ed Brown is an example of someone who is right and is in jail.  Ed Brown wanted to see the law --there isn't one so they couldn't show him, but he's still in jail.  They will not let someone who is right off, especially if they have been making a lot of noise, because if they did everyone would want to do it.

I know of several IRS people who have come to know the truth and stopped paying their taxes but they are very educated on protecting themselves.  It is not anything you want to try if you don't nearly make a career out of study to protect yourself.  Maggie is aware of what she is up against.  Note that I don't usually harp on this one as there is too much chance of things going badly. 

My semi-win with them did cost me $1500 for the assistance of an enrolled agent.  He told me - believe me -- every agent in every office knows who you are so we need to get this thing on track.  One thing he never did tell me is that I was wrong. 

Good luck, Maggie.