Marathon Petroleum Unit Can’t Revive California City Tax Case

A Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary failed to convince a California appeals court that a city’s requirements for challenging a municipal tax on oil industry businesses are preempted by state law.

The company didn’t cite any provisions of the California Government Claims Act “showing the Legislature expressly intended to occupy the field of prescribing the procedures a taxpayer must follow before suing” for a local tax refund, Justice Brian S. Currey wrote for the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, in a Feb. 28 unpublished opinion.

• Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co., which operates an oil refinery and a petroleum ...