Louisiana Balks at Suit Challenging Sales Tax Collection System

The Louisiana Department of Revenue has called on a federal judge to dismiss an online retailer’s challenge to the state’s sales tax system, arguing the seller failed to make a constitutional claim and lacked standing to sue the state.

Revenue Secretary Kimberly Lewis filed a brief Friday supporting an earlier motion to dismiss brought by three Louisiana parishes objecting to a suit filed by Arizona-based Halstead Bead Inc., which alleged the state maintains an “arbitrary and fragmented” sales tax system that places unconstitutional burdens on interstate commerce. In December the parish-level tax administrators accused Halstead of wasting the court’s ...