2013 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 47 - Revenue and Taxation
RS 47:337.63 - Remittance of tax under protest; suits to recover

§337.63. Remittance of tax under protest; suits to recover

A.(1)(a) Any taxpayer protesting the payment of any amount found due by the collector or the enforcement of any provision of law in relation thereto shall remit to the collector the amount due and at that time shall give notice of intention to file suit for the recovery of such tax or shall remit to the collector the amount due and make a written request for mandatory arbitration pursuant to R.S. 47:337.51.1.

(b) In the case of sales or use taxes that are required to be collected and remitted by a selling dealer as provided for in R.S. 47:337.17, the purchaser, in order to avail himself of the alternative remedy provided by this Section, shall remit protested sales or use tax to the selling dealer, and shall retain copies of documentation evidencing the amount of the sales or use tax paid to the dealer on the transactions. On or before the twentieth day of the month following the month of the transactions on which the selling dealer charged the tax, the purchaser shall inform the collector by certified mail or other reasonable means of the dates and amounts of the protested taxes that were charged by the selling dealer, and shall give notice of the purchaser's intention to file suit for recovery of the tax or to make a written request for mandatory arbitration pursuant to R.S. 47:337.51.1.

(2) Upon receipt of this notice, the amount remitted to the collector or the amount of protested taxes that have been paid to the selling dealer shall be placed in an escrow account and held by the collector or his duly authorized representative for a period of thirty days. If suit is filed for recovery of the tax or a written request for mandatory arbitration is mailed as provided for in R.S. 47:337.51.1 within the thirty-day period, the funds in the escrow account shall be further held pending the outcome of the suit or the arbitration proceeding or appeal therefrom.

(3) If the taxpayer prevails, the collector shall refund the amount to the claimant, with interest at the rate established pursuant to R.S. 47:337.80.

B. This Section shall afford a legal remedy and right of action in any state court having jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter, for a full and complete adjudication of any and all questions arising in the enforcement of the sales and use tax of a taxing authority as to the legality of any tax accrued or accruing or the method of enforcement thereof. In such action, service of process upon the collector shall be sufficient service, and he shall be the sole necessary and proper party defendant in any such suit.

C. This Section shall be construed to provide a legal remedy in the state courts in case such taxes are claimed to be an unlawful burden upon interstate commerce, or the collection thereof, in violation of any Act of Congress or the United States Constitution, or the Constitution of Louisiana.

D. Upon request of a taxpayer and upon proper showing by such taxpayer that the principle of law involved in an additional assessment is already pending before the courts for judicial determination or before an arbitration panel as provided for in R.S. 47:337.51.1, the taxpayer, upon agreement to abide by the decision of the courts, an arbitration panel, or by a final judgment of a court upon a timely appeal of a decision of an arbitration panel, may remit the additional assessment under protest, but need not file an additional suit or make another mandatory arbitration request. In such cases, the tax so paid under protest shall be placed in an escrow account and held by the collector until the question of law involved has been determined by the courts, an arbitration panel, or by a final judgment of a court upon a timely appeal of a decision of an arbitration panel, and shall then be disposed of as therein provided.

Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2010, No. 1003, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.