BUSINESS BRIEFS
Tax withholding rule has changed

Advertiser Staff

About 2,300 Hawai'i employers who withhold more than $40,000 a year from workers for state income taxes now must deposit the withheld tax semiweekly instead of with their monthly withholding tax returns.

Letters explaining the change that took effect Saturday have been sent to employers, the state Department of Taxation said yesterday.

Nominations for ethics awards

The Better Business Bureau of Hawaii is accepting nominations for the 2005 Torch Awards for Business Ethics.

For-profit businesses statewide may be nominated in the categories of business individual, small business (99 or fewer employees) or large business. An independent committee will judge the nominees, based on "high ethical standards in business practices, integrity in business service performance, advocacy of truth in advertising, commitment to community service, and ability to raise industry standards." Nomination forms are online at www.hawaii.bbb.org.

Airline quiet on Hawai'i plans

Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly did not rule out the possibility the discount carrier will soon start selling tickets to Hawai'i. Last month, Southwest bought assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines, including the right to form a code-sharing agreement that would let Southwest sell seats on ATA flights. Since ATA flies to Hawai'i from the West Coast — and Southwest does not — some industry officials suggest it could be a backdoor way for Southwest to tap into the Islands' vacation market.

"It's certainly not unreasonable or irrational to speculate that, but we have not announced the routes that we will code-share yet ... so you have to stay tuned on that," Kelly said yesterday in Dallas.