Cancelled Craft Fair Back On

“This was a mistake made by the City and County of Honolulu,” said a clearly disturbed Carlisle during a press conference at his Honolulu Hale office.  “We're responsible for it and now it's our obligation to do everything we can to try and set this right.”

The 36th annual Mayor’s Craft and Country Fair scheduled to take place this Saturday at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall was abruptly cancelled Tuesday after the city’s Parks Department grew concerned vendors would be targeted by the state Department of Taxation’s Special Enforcement Section, a specialized unit that’s been cracking down on businesses who fail to pay taxes on cash transactions.

Carlisle said no from the Parks Department including Director Lester Chang consulted him about the decision to cancel the popular fair.

“You expect to be informed of it,” said the mayor.  “I think they've already been told that.”

State Tax Director Stanley Shiraki said no one from the city contacted his office about the possibility of canceling the event.

“I thought it was a little over reaction,” said Shiraki.  “In fact even if we attended (the fair) most of those people would be exempt from paying taxes.”

Carlisle said a 1989 decision exempted vendors at the fair from paying state general excise taxes since any revenue raised is dedicated to non-profits and is not related to business taxable income.

“So as a result there was no valid reason to cancel the fair,” said the mayor.

Carlisle said the city would announce as soon as possible when the Mayor’s Craft and Country fair would be rescheduled.  He said the Exhibition Hall was available on November 19 and 20 and again on December 10 and 11.

If neither of those dates worked out for organizers and vendors, Carlisle said the craft fair could be held at the Mission Memorial Auditorium next to Honolulu Hale.

“We're now trying to do everything humanly possible to get the fair back on track,” he said.

CASH ECONOMY CRACKDOWN

Cancellation of Saturday’s fair was precipitated by a crackdown last month at the Kailua Open Market by investigators with the Tax Department’s Special Enforcement Section.

Several of the vendors at the market were fined for failing to show their GET license or not providing receipts to customers.

Citations issued by SES range from $500 to $3,000 but Shiraki said the end goal is not to raise money for the state through fines.

“The whole purpose is to get people to comply with tax requirements and that could run into the millions of dollars,” the state tax director told Khon2.

CLOSED DOOR MEETING

Wednesday afternoon at Makiki District Park the city held a meeting with vendors who sell goods at the twenty-five open markets across the island to inform them about state tax law requirements.

However about a dozen private vendors were locked out of the meeting with tax department officials after the city feared the question and answer session would become contentious.

Brad Tada, who began selling hand-made fashion jewelry two months ago under the brand name Bit of Sugar, told Khon2 he was only seeking information.

"I think it's very unfair that I came here to learn and it's been difficult to get any information,” said Tada.  “I wanted to get some clarification on the tax laws so we don't get slapped with a fine.”

“The problem with going online is we don't have someone in front of us that can give us the correct answers,” added Mela Kealoha-Lindsey, operations manager for the Specialty Farmers Market held at Ward Centers every Tuesday.

“We're here to understand the guidelines and the rules of what we need to know to be in compliance.”