Tobacco Company Wins $11 Million Refund in Virginia Tax Dispute

A cigarette manufacturer is entitled to an $11 million refund from Virginia after the the state’s highest court found that the company’s storage of tobacco in a Danville facility didn’t qualify as the product being “used” so it wasn’t subject to additional taxes.

In 2014, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. purchased Lorillard Tobacco Co., a multistate business based in Delaware that sold cigarettes nationally. The company acquired leaf tobacco and stored it at a facility in Danville, Va., for an aging period of 13 to 23 months. The Virginia Department of Taxation requires multistate businesses to apportion their income to determine ...