Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Health plan refund
may be tax exempt
Question: Can you help us get some answers regarding whether we have to pay taxes on refunds we received from the state? Some state employees, including me, received refunds on their health fund premiums. Some of us received Form 1099s in which we're supposed to claim the refund as taxable income, but some of us didn't. But it doesn't make sense who received the 1099s and who didn't. I pay my premiums through a pre-tax plan, in which my premiums are deducted before my income is taxed. My friend pays her premium after her gross income is taxed. We both got 1099s. I tried calling the number for the Hawaii Public Employees Health Fund, but all I get is a recording.Answer: Everyone who received a refund check -- about 60,000 people -- should have received a Form 1099, says Bert Nishihara, administrator of the Hawaii Public Employees Health Fund.
Once a person receives the form, he said it is up to that person to contact a tax adviser to determine whether the refund needs to be reported as income on federal and state tax returns.
With the sending out of more than 60,000 checks within a 30-day period last year, there inevitably were "glitches" and there may have been delays in some people receiving the Form 1099s, he said.
He apologized for the difficulty in making phone contact with his office, explaining that his staff of 15 has had to carry out ordinary operations for more than 90,000 employee-beneficiaries, and also keep track of the 60,000 checks and Form 1099s. But changes in procedures were recently made to try to be more responsive, he said.
Nishihara gave us a copy of a news bulletin sent to all state and county employees and retirees last April, which provided information about the refunds. He said a notice also was included with each check.
The refund was paid pro rata only to those who were enrolled in the health benefit plans of the Hawaii Public Employees Health Fund that paid refunds for the plan years 1992 to 1999.
If a state or county employee or retiree was enrolled in some other plan, such as one sponsored by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Hawaii State Teachers Association or the United Public Workers, he or she would not have received a refund from his or her health fund, Nishihara said.
Auwe
To the driver of a state vehicle, a light-blue Chevrolet Corsica, who ran a red light at Punchbowl and Beretania at 10:10 a.m. Feb. 20. He was wearing a white baseball cap backwards and a black, long-sleeved T-shirt. If he'd collided with another car, would he be held responsible? Or would the taxpayers foot the bill for injuries and damages? My guess is the latter.Watchful Citizen
(We passed on the license plate number to the state Department of Accounting and General Service's Automotive Services Division. But in answer to your question, answered previously in Kokua Line, taxpayers don't pay for towing charges, parking tickets, speeding citations or any other traffic violation incurred by a driver of a state vehicle. However, the state will pay for the cost of towing its vehicles from the scene of an accident.)
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Useful phone numbers
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com