‘Surprise’ Tax Last Straw for Bar Owner (Hawaii Together)
Channel: ThinkTech Hawaii
Date: 2024-04-02

Bill Comerford Closes Shop.  The host for this show is Keli'i Akina.  The guest is Bill Comerford.  

Before the COVID-19 lockdowns, Bill Comerford owned four of Honolulu’s most popular restaurant bars: Kelley O’Neil’s, Irish Rose Saloon, Anna O’Briens and O’Toole’s. 

But the forced closures during the lockdown years and later heavy taxation led him to selling all but three of them, and now he is left with only the Irish Rose Saloon.

Comerford says he racked up lawsuits and debt when he was forced to close his businesses, but the latest nail in the coffin is a 'surprise' tax bill related to the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Shuttered Venue Operators Grant programs.

Comerford discusses the taxes and fees that ultimately toppled his businesses and wiped out all of his retirement savings that he had built up over many years during this episode of 'Hawaii Together,' hosted by Keli‘i Akina, president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

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