International Paper Tax Break Challenged at Virginia High Court

International Paper Inc. shouldn’t have received a $7.6 million windfall in its challenge to a machinery and tools tax increase, Isle of Wight County told the Virginia Supreme Court.

The county is asking the high court to reinstate International Paper’s tax bill after a trial court ruled the county’s personal property tax scheme and economic development retention grants resulted in nonuniform taxation. The court should only have nullified the grant program—which it found caused taxpayers to pay varying tax rates in 2017—rather than wipe out the uniformly applied tax, the county said in its opening brief.

The ...