Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

State tax forms still unmailed

Hawai'i taxpayers will be sent their 2003 state income tax form and instruction packet in late January, the Department of Taxation said.

The form is like the one for 2002, with no changes. Direct deposit of refunds is available to those who file Form N-11, the residential individual income tax return.

Other forms and information are available at www.state.hi.us/tax or at district offices. Forms are also available by fax or by regular mail by calling 587-7572 on O'ahu or (800) 222-7572 from the Neighbor Islands, U.S. Mainland and Canada.

The taxpayer services branch is available during business hours at 587-4242 or toll-free at (800) 222-3229.

Mortgage firm is joint venture

California-based lending giant Countrywide Home Loans has joined with local homebuilder Stanford Carr Development to form a mortgage company to help buyers finance the purchase of Stanford Carr homes.

The joint-venture firm, Inter Island Home Loans, says it makes financing easier for new-home buyers who have limited options when lenders won't finance homes with unproven resale values.

No changes yet at Coral Reef

Aston Hotels & Resorts will continue to manage the Coral Reef Hotel where a conversion to a resort condominium is on hold.

The decision by hotel owner Andre Tatibouet to keep Aston in place reverses one that called for Aqua Hotels & Resorts to manage a vacation rental program starting this month. Tatibouet is Aston's founder.

Coral Reef continues to be operated as a hotel, said Kelvin Bloom, president of Aston, which has managed the Coral Reef for 31 years.

Tatibouet began converting the 247-unit hotel into condominiums with plans to sell the units. But the landlord, The Queen Emma Foundation, sued to block the move.