Alabama Tax Tribunal Reverses Utility Tax Refund Denial for Taxpayer

The Alabama Tax Tribunal reversed the Department of Revenue’s partial denial of the taxpayer’s utility gross receipts tax refund requests. The taxpayer, a chicken processor that uses water for cutting, rinsing, and marinating chicken at multiple Alabama facilities, paid utility taxes on water used in its industrial processes, which both parties agreed should have been exempt from the tax. The dispute centered on whether the three-year or two-year statute of limitations applied to the taxpayer’s refund requests filed in May 2024. The Department had initially approved refunds for April 2022 through March 2024, but denied the earlier period, arguing that ...