Mississippi Warehouse Avoids $2.5 Million in Property Taxes

A warehouse operator in Mississippi is off the hook for $2.5 million in property taxes for seven years on inventory it held briefly then shipped out of state, the state high court ruled Thursday.

Hinds County forfeited its right to tax the property from 2012 to 2018 by not challenging Jackson Sales & Storage Co.'s exemption as a free-port-warehouse license-holder, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled. However, the county is entitled to more than $290,000 for 2019 when it explicitly rejected the exemption, Justice David M. Ishee wrote for the court.

The county didn’t tax Jackson’s “in-transit” personal property for ...