Washington State Clarifies Tax Refund Case Venue (Corrected)

Tax refund actions must be litigated in the county that collected the tax, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in a dispute over venue.

The statute governing property tax refund cases requires taxpayers to sue in that county, Chief Justice Steven C. González wrote for the unanimous court. That trumps the general venue statute, which says suits against a county “may” be brought in a neighboring county, he said in an opinion issued Thursday.

Fox Rothschild LLP partner Michelle DeLappe, who filed an amicus brief for the Western Rivers Conservancy on behalf of the taxpayer, called the ruling a ...